Dude That's My Gabriel!
by shesmychevypie
Summary: Sam Winchester is a sixteen year old monster movie fanatic and someday hopes to write his own monster stories. One day he meets Gabriel; a dorky ghost with a sweet tooth from an old house down the street, and ends up getting more than he bargained for This is inspired by the animated television show Dude That's my Ghost! and the 'ghost rules' are sort of a mix between SPN and DTMG.
1. Chapter 1: Gabriel

"C'mon, Sammy," Azazel grinned wickedly, "what? Are you scared?"

"No." Sam retorted bravely, puffing out his chest. "I'm not scared."

"Then go up and touch the door knob!" Jeered Alistir.

"Wel-well..I.."

The sixteen year olds green eyes scanned the empty grey house. He saw the watered down black shutters, some were just barely hanging onto their hindges. A window on the second floor was broken and shattered. The screen door was ripped and due to the autumn wind it was flapping slightly, banging against the side of the house, its squeaking was immidetly followed by loud smacks. The lawn was overgrown and was attacking the old rusty chain link fence, licking the metal and rust with its yellowing green tips. There was also a large maple tree in front of the yard, but it was bent an odd way, like it had been bullied for years by the wind and it just grew that way. The branches sprawled out and clawed outside towards the three boys on the leaf covered sidewalk.

It was mid-Septmeber and already the leaves were changing colors. The old maple trees leaves always fell sooner than the others, some say its because its so old. Others say its because its death itself.

Dean always said this house reminded him of the movie The Exorcist.

The house on Oak Street was a legend in the town. Every memory Sam has of it its always looked ancient. Some people, like Sams dad, John, and Uncle Bobby, say they can remember when the house was white and clean, and when the grass was freshly mowed and a garden grew out back and there was always a dark haired little boy swinging on the tire swing that hung from the maple tree. That there was a pretty red headed girl who used to jump rope on the drive way when she was younger and when she was older she would have boys over and her older brothers from college would always make it a point to come vist. They remember every Thanksgiving the boys would have a football game, and when their youngest brother was born they would let him play also, even though he didn't know the rules. The sister would sit on the porch swing with her mother and cheer them on. Others recall a more horrible side of the house. They say the father used to beat his children and he was never home because he was having an affair. They say the mother was insane and was once seen chasing her husband out the door with a baseball bat. They say the oldest children were spoiled while the younger were nearly starved to death. The children never wore shoes and hardly left the house, and when they were seen outside they had cuts on their arms and circles under their eyes. People say they looked dead already.  
But Sam thought those were just stories. They were all just stories.

High School students were known to tell their young trick or treater siblings on Halloween and then make them go up and touch the door. Groups of teenagers also sometimes claimed they've walked inside, one even said he spent the whole night there and he had seen things no one would believe. And no one did. You could name a story about the Oak house and Sam had most likely heard it.

"So, Winchester," Azazel swaggered in front of Sam. "You going up there? Or are you too sac-awrd?"

Sam glared at the football player and huffed heavily out of his nose. Sam Winchester doesn't scare easily. Dean has taught him better.

His older brother told him that Sam shouldn't be afraid of anything Dean isn't afraid of; and if he was scared, he can suck it up.

Sam wasn't afraid of much and he certainly wasn't afraid of a silly old house with an even sillier Halloween folk tale to go with it, and Sam also wasn't afraid of Azazel.

"I'm not scared." He growled, walking right up to the rusty gate door. As the gate squeaked open he could hear Alistir gasp behind him; "_He's really doing it!"_

The path to the house didn't seem so far away when Sam was looking at it from outside the fence, but as he walked the dirty, leaf covered, rock path, he felt like time had slowed down. It seemed like every living thing had gone silent in that moment to watch him walk up to that grimy old house. The only thing Sam could hear was his own slow breathing and his heart beating his ear drums to death.

Sam wasn't scared. Or at least thats what he told himself.

When he finally reached the porch he felt like he was a million years old. He placed one foot on the rooting wood porch and a loud squeak ripped through the silent air.

He froze.

"C'mon, Winchester!" Hollered Azazel. "Go inside!"

Sam threw him a look over his shoulder, that was not the orignal plan, he was only supposed to touch the doorknob.

"Yeah, c'mon, Sammy!" Alistir teased in a mocking baby voice. "Or do you want big budder Dean to come save you?"

The two hooted with laughter as Sam growled a curse under his breath, digging his fingernails into his palms. He didn't know why he couldn't just ignore the two bimbos and go about his buisness. Maybe it was because they've always picked on him since Middle School and he wanted to take any chance he could to prove himself to them. Or maybe he was just trying to be like Dean.

He'd never admit to either.

"I don't need Dean." He muttered, spinning back towards the decaying mahogany door. "I'm not a little kid.."

He took a big step forwards and the porch didn't creak anymore as he reached the dusty gold doorknob. He collasped his hand around it and twisted, to his surpise the door popped open.

For a moment Sam stared down in shock and disbelief. Were the stories really true? He shook his head calling himself crazy before taking a mindless step forward into the dark house.

The only light came from the sun that shined in dully through the thin curtians. It was horribly stuffy; there wasn't any oxygen, only dust.

Sam swatted the particles away and coughed, looking around the big house. A handsome marble staircase twisted up to the second floor, a chandilier hung from the ceiling. Whoever lived there last must have left in a hurry because there were still some portraits hanging on the walls, Sam couldn't tell what of though; for all he knew they were pictures of the family cat.

Sam wasn't exactly sure how old it was, or how long it's been abandoned, but Deans been telling him stories about it since he was about six years old. Sam once asked his brother when the stories began but Dean merely shrugged and said that people just talk, people talked when the house wasn't abandoned.

Sam wandered over to the middle of the room. The house itself gave off a bad vibe, but Sam felt odd. He felt this heaviness on his heart, a twisting in his stomach, like something bad happened here. Surely those stories Dean used to tell him where just stories, there's no vengeful spirits in this house; there's no such thing.

But Sam thought he had seen a dark shadow out of the corner of his eye. He spun around to see nothing but furniture and dust.

"Azazel are you in here?" He shouted, taking a step backwards. "If you're trying to scare me it's not going to work!"

Sams eyes darted all around him, his senses in overdrive, waiting for Azazel and Alistir to jump out and grab him. There was a sudden crash from upstairs, like a vase had broken. Sam snapped his head up towards the sound, staring at the ceiling, waiting to hear another crash, or hear Azazel laugh.

Silence.

Sam took another step back and his heart jumped into his throat when there was a crunch under his shoe. He looked down and slowly lifted his foot, expecting to find bones or some other kind of remains. Instead he saw something shiny, glinting in the dull sunlight.

He slowly bent down and scooped up the trinket in his hand, letting the chain dangle down his finger tips. It was a silver chain necklace, it was a bit dusty but other than that it looked good as new. Maybe a girl had come in here on a dare and lost it. People normally were dared to come in here throughout the year, but its more common during Halloween time; its even more common for people to not go through with the dares.

Sam studied the necklace that rested in his palm. It didn't look like anything special, the pendant was a perfect rectangle, and as Sam moved his thumb over it it felt like something was engraved in it. It was too dark to tell what though.

Sam heard another noise and jerked his head towards it. He stood up quickly and shoved the necklace in his pocket without thinking.

"Azazel." He said sternly.

Silence.

"A-Alistir?" Sam began to whimper, stepping towards the front door. The hat rack to his left suddenly fell over and Sam jumped a little. He then realized how ridiculous he was acting and chuckled, shaking his head. "All right, all right, you guys got me!" He called out into the house. "Ha, ha, very funny. I'm leaving now. I did what you wanted and I'm going home."

But as Sam reached the door he saw that Alisir and Azazel were already outside. In fact, they were still standing on the sidewalk, they looked like they hadn't moved at all.

All the air rushed out of Sam's lungs as he saw the two there, looking at the house and kicking the leaves impatiently.

"H-how...did..they.." Sam muttered numbly, he felt pale and sick.

A cold presence crept up Sam's back. Goosebumps crawling up his arms and neck.

He could feel someone behind him.

He slowly turned to look over his shoulder, then pivoted all the way around.

His eyes grew as wide as saucers as he gazed up at a blank white sheet floating in midair. Sam gaped up at the sheet, mouthing wordlessly.

"Boo."

Sam screamed and scrambled out the front door, nearly tripping over his big feet before jumping the steps of the wooden porch and darting out of the weed populated yard, past Alistir and Azazel who were shouting out catcalls and jokes at him.

Sam hardly heard them, he was running blindly down the street towards his house.

All the while back at the abanddoned home, Azazel and Alistir doubled over in laughter. But there was another who was laughing. In the house a cackle erupted from the doorway, across the yard and haunted Sams ears.

That was the laugh that followed Sam all the way home.

Sam slammed the door shut behind him, locking it and then pressing his back against it, panting hard. His eyes were still wide with panic and his face felt white.

"Sammy?" Called Dean. "What the hell are you doing?"

"N-Nothing!" Sams voice was hoarse as he tried to catch his breath.

"Cas, go check on Sam willyah?" He heard Dean grumble.

A moment later the senior, Castiel Novak, walked into the foyer from the kitchen.

Castiel was Deans best friend, nearly everyone knew that. They've been best friends since Dean was a Freshman and Cas was in eighth grade and got to take Alegbra at the High School. They were in the same class and have been inseprable ever since. He was always over, always with Dean. Sam can't think of one memory over the past five years that Cas wasn't a part of. It was like Cas was an adopted older brother and Sam thought of him as one. He never seemed like he wanted to go home and he never spoke of his family, not in front of Sam anyway.

Cas was a pretty weird kid. He was mostly quiet around people he didn't know but Dean could get him talking your ear off in a heartbeat. He also always wore a trench coat over his clothes. He stuffs it into his locker during school due to teasing but other than that he's almost never seen without it. Sam used to think it was wierd but he's grown used to it, now its like he looks naked without the tan oversized coat covering him.

Cas scanned Sams face with puzzlement. "What's wrong, Sam?"

The young Winchester gulped hard and removed himself from the door, his backpack falling to his side as he trembled slightly. "Nothing-nothing I'm fine...I just..dog chased...me home." He lied.

Cas squinted at him and blinked, turning his head to the side, like he didn't belive the story. That's another thing about Castiel, Sam swears he can read minds.

Cas patted Sam on the back and smirked. "You're okay now, Sam. I'm sure that dog didnt mean any harm. Dean is making macaroni and cheese for you."

All Sam could do was nod. He felt like he was in shock, everything around him was moving too slow and his brain was moving too fast. That insane laughter still rang in his ears like obnioxious bells, his heart pounding against his stomach.

The two walked into the kitchen and Dean looked over at his little brother. "Hey, Sammy," He greeted before turning back to the stove. "What's the matter with you? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Huh?" Sams heart jumped.

"I said you looked like you've seen a ghost." Dean repeated, pouring the pasta into the strainer in the sink. "Are you okay?"

"I'm-I'm fine."

"A dog chased him home." Castiel piped up from the kitchen table.

Dean stiffened. He didn't like dogs. He wasn't scared of them, he just didn't like them (He made sure to stress this around Sam). When Dean was around Sams age he had been attacked by a stray on his way home. It nearly killed him. He could be dead right now if Cas hadn't been there. Dean still has scars on his back and abdomen and sometimes if someone mentions dogs or a dog walks past while their walking in town Sam see's Dean gingerly rubbing his stomach, as though he can still feel the dog tearing into him.

"What dog." Dean demanded.

"Uh-Um it was the Migillians dog...the one that they bought their son for Christmas..."

"..The yorkie?" Cas tried to cover a scoff.

"y..yes..." The back of Sams neck started to feel hot. _God,_ he thought, _why did you say that?! Getting chased home by a little yorkie is ten times worse than being chased home by a ghost. _

His older brother merely shivered and muttered, "I hate dogs." as he dumped the macaroni into the bowl and added milk. It didn't seem to matter to Dean what kind of dog it was, he didn't like them. From his eyes they all had the potential to rip into you.

Sam let out a breath and sat at the table with Cas, who was still smirking. "Was it really the yorkie, Sam?" he asked as he took a drink of milk from his glass. "Or was it something even more terrifying? Like a mouse?"

"Hey, shut up, willyah.." Sam muttered, looking at the table so he wouldnt smile.

"C'mon, Sam, what was it? Really?"

Sam flicked his eyes over to his friend, feeling almost cetian Cas could read minds now.

He decided that it was probably best just to tell him, Castiel may be his closest friend and he was confindent he could tell him anything. He wouldn't think he was crazy..would he? Cas hated scary movies because of the slight feeling that they are real, maybe he would belive Sam.

"Okay, well...Alistir and Azazel-" Cas frowned. He knew those two well. Everyone knew them. They were quite popular and Cas didn't like Sam hanging around them. Sam didn't like them either of course, but the two always followed him around. "-they dared me to go inside that old house on Oak. The abondaned one with the broken window and the...the tree.." Sam stopped himself when he saw the look on Castiels face. He had suddenly turned very pale with an olive tint, like he had just been diagnosed with the flu. His blue eyes turned glassy and distant. "Cas..? Cas are you okay?" Sam breathed.

"What?" He shook his head slightly and looked back to Sam. "Oh-oh, yes, I'm fine..." He then took a deep breath and sat up very straight. He wouldn't look at Sam throughout the rest of the story.

"-And then I ran home...There's something in that house, Cas. I saw it."

"Listen," His friend said in a stern, low voice, "There is nothing in that house. Nothing. You just thought you saw it. There isn't anything in that house, Sam. They're just stories."

Sam gazed up at Castiel with big eyes. Cas never spoke to him like that before.

"Oh-_k_ay_, _Cas..." Sam responded unsteadily as Dean placed three bowls of Mac N' Cheese on the table.

"What were you guys talking about?" He asked, sitting down and piling food into his mouth.

"Nothing." Anwsered Cas hardly, glaring at the bowl.

Dean gave his friend a funny look and then turned to Sam. "What'd you do to him?" he nodded towards Cas.

"Nothing..." Sam said softly, suddenly becoming interested in his dinner, but he had a loss of appetite. He merely moved his food around with his fork.

Dean looked back and forth between the two, frowning, his green eyes cold like an alligator. "Okay, what the hell is going on?" he wiped his mouth aggitatedly with his sleeve.

"Nothing, Dean." Cas said slowly. The two stared at each other for a while before Cas took a bite of food as if to prove his point.

Dean pressed his lips together and went back to eating, looking at Cas out of the corner of his eye.

Now Sam was sure that both of them could read minds.

_The four high schoolers walked along the muddy path, three boys and one girl. One of the boys held a flashlight in his hand, torching the dark night. the girl stuck close to him._

_"Come on man, is it much farther? I'm cold."_  
_"It should just be up here..." The boy held the flashlight out in front of him, looking through the mist._

_"Whoa.." The girl gasped._

_"There we go."_

_"How'd you find this place anyway, Thirston?"_

_The old house loomed in the distance. It was old. Uninhabited. Practically falling a part. It sat in the clearing of the woods in Richardson, Texas, far away where no one could hear you. It was surronded by darkness, the moon hid behind the clouds. _

_"My cousin told me about it." Said Thirston with a smirk. The girl next to him scanned the dark house with wide eyes. _

_"I am so not going in there." She huffed._

_"Wuss'." Snorted Thirston. "We came all the way out here to check it out."_

_"Let's just hurry this up and get back to the car all right?" One boy said, shoving his hands into his jacket pocket. "It's friggen cold out here."_

_Thriston and his friend hurried along ahead, their boots sticking to the mud as they walked towards the house looming in the distance._

_"Want me to hold your hand?" The other friend asked the girl, holding out his palm to her. She looked at him and thought about it for a while before clasping her hand in his and swinging it inbetween them._

_"Is there...anything else I can hold?" He joked._

_The girl scoffed and hit him hard in the shoulder, jerking her hand away from him. " Shut up, Loser."_

_"Come on!" He laughed, holding out his arms as though he had done nothing wrong as he watched her storm away towards the house._

_The friends opened the squeaky screen door and filed in one after the other. Thirston shined the flashlight along the walls to illuminate funny looking signs and squiggles painted on the brick. A pentagram was etched on the floor. _

_"No way..." Breathed one friend, "Look at this stuff..."_

_"Come on," Said Thirston, turning to look at the high schoolers. "Its this way."_

_The four shuffled behind their leader as he lead them to the next room, explaining the story to them as he casted the yellow light in front of him. "They say that it lives in the root celler. It goes after girls. Always girls. It just...strings them up.."_

_"_They _say?" Commented his friend. "Whos they? Where'd you hear this crap?"_

_"I told you, my cousin."_  
_"And where'd she hear it?"_  
_"I dont know. She heard it."_

_His friend scoffed and smirked, "whatever. Gimmie that thing." He swiped the flashlight from Thirston and opened the cellar door. His two friends followed behind him, the girl hung back, staring into the darkness with fear before slowly joining the boys in the cellar._

_"ooohhh look! Its the evil root cellar," Called out the boy sarcastically as he stepped off the squeaky staircase and walked into the cellar, coming up to a shelf with jars lined up in a row filled with subtances neither of the teenagers could identify. "You know where Satan cans all his vegtables. Come on, get your candy ass' down here and see for yourselfs. It's just a basement full of skank-filled jars in some crap farmhouse. I don't see anything scary. Do you?"_

_The others joined him and looked around the dark basement as their friend held the flashlight under his chin and cackled. His friends stood in front of him and looked up, their eyes growing wide with terror and their jaws dropping open. "What?" He asked them, puzzled. "What is it?" He slowly turned, thinking perhaps his friends were teasing him. _

_His eyes fell upon a girl, a rope knotted around her neck. She hung from the rafters, her eyes were distant and blank. Her face pale white and purple bruises sprouted on her neck from the thick brown rope. Her short hair framed her face and strands fell across her cheeks. _

_The boy screamed._

Sam tapped his pencil against the side of his mouth, staring down at his notebook. He couldn't think of what to say next at the moment so at the top he scratched out the title _Hell House. _He thumbed through his other stories boredly, perhaps looking for insperation. Finding nothing he flipped his green book closed and tossed it onto his side table.

He sat up and stretched, rubbing his eyes. Sighing heavily before falling into his mattress sideways and nuzzling his head against the pillow. When he shifted in his bed to get more comfortable, he felt something press against him in his pocket. Confused, he sat up and dug into his jeans.

He pulled out the silver necklace, his eyes flashing. "Oh.." he breathed, looking down at it. That incident in the house on Oak street seemed like it had been yearsago. In reality it was a mere few hours before.

He could now see the engravings on the pendant; it was actually a dog tag now that he could see it in the light. The tag said in all capital letters:GABRIEL

On the other side was a pair of angel wings.

"Pft," Sam snorted and rolled his eyes. Maybe he'd pawn it to go to the movies this weekend.

"Careful with that, my mother gave it to me."

Sam lept from the bed, yelping. He spun around and saw a teenage boy sprawled out in a model pose on his bed, his head resting in his hand. He had golden hair and carmel colored eyes. His eyes reminded Sam of those carmel candies in the white wrappers Uncle Bobby sometimes brought for him and Dean. He was also wearing plain jeans-although they looked dirty-a green jacket, a plain white tee shirt, and black Chuck Taylors.

"Who are you?!" Sam screamed, "What are you doing in my bed?!"

The boy smirked and sat up, clearing his throat and spreading out his arms as he introduced himself. "I am Gabriel. I'm your ghost!"

"_What?!_"

"Your ghost!"

"_WHAT_?!"

"Will you please stop screaming?" Gabriel said as though this was a regular thing and rolled his eyes. "People are going to think youre crazy."

"_I'm_ crazy?!" Sam backed up to his wall. "You're the psycho who _broke into my room_!"

"I didnt _break_ in," The ghost scoffed, "..I floated in..."

"What the hell are you talking about?! HELP! DEAN! HELP!"

"Will you shUT UP!" Gabriel hurried off the bed and over to Sam, placing a hand over his mouth. "_shut up dammit_! They're going to think you're crazy!"

Sam looked up at Gabriel with wide hazel eyes, breathing hard out of his nose. He wasn't very tall, Sam was probably an inch taller than him. This boy was maybe five foot, he came up to Sam's forehead.

Gabriel looked into Sams eyes for what seemed liked hours before he whispered. "Better now?" Sam nodded slowly and Gabriel released him. "good."

"y-y-youre-youre a-a-a-"

"A ghost? Yeah. I think I covered that."

"B-but-ghosts arent..."

"Don't say it!" Gabriel gasped suddenly. "Don't say it!"

Sam stared at him quizzically.

"Don't say ghosts arent real! OH-NO!" He gasped again. "Oh no! I said it! Oh no!" Gabriel collasped on the ground and shivered. "Oh no..I'm...I'm dying-I'm going to ghost Hell! Not now! No! I'm so young!" Gabriel began to what Sam thought looked like melting. He was melting into the carpet in a slow blueish mess and vanishing right before Sam's eyes. "Is-is that you Casper?" Gabriel whispered dramatically, reaching out his hand to nothing. "oohhh what a world...what a world.."

And then, Gabriel was gone.

Sam looked around and streched his foot towards the carpet where the ghost had just been moments before.

Nothing.

Not even a piece of that bluish gak left from him.

"This day just keeps getting weirder-"

"SYKE!" Gabriels head popped out of the ceiling.

Sam screamed and fell backwards into his trash can.

Gabriel began to laugh as the rest of his body flodded in. "Oh God, that was classic! You should have seen the look on your face!"

That laugh. Sam knew that laugh. A lightbulb clicked on in Sams head and he glared up at the now floating Gabriel."You were the guy in the sheet!" He growled. "At the house on Oak!"

"Yeah I am!" Gabriel wiped his eyes, still chuckling. "I scared you so bad!"

"I wasnt scared!" Sam stuggled to get his butt out of the trash.

"Yes you were!" Gabriel howled. "You screamed like a girl!"

"Shut up!"

"Oh, god, I'm going to enjoy hanging out with you, kiddo!"

"_Hanging out_? Oh, no, no, no, no!" Sam wiggled himself out and stood up shaking a finger at the ghost like a frustrated mother. "No you are not staying here you are leaving!"

"Of course I'm staying here, silly," Gabriel grinned a lopsided smile and ruffled Sams hair. "I'm your ghost now."

"Says who?"

"That necklace you have in your hand." He nodded to the chain dangling out of Sams fist. "You found it. As long as you're touching it, you can see me and hear me."

"What if I just don't touch it?" Sam retorted.

"Don't be a smartass. Of course you're gonna touch it. Who wouldn't want to hang out with a radically awesome ghost like me? Look, kiddo, I've been stuck in that house for years with absoluetly no human contact, waiting for someone, anyone, to pick up my necklace so they can see me."

"But-in movies..."

"Yeah, yeah I know in movies people don't need to touch an object in order to see ghosts ya-da, ya-da, ya-da, i know, i know...I just haven't learned how to do that yet.."

"What kind of ghost are you?" Sam snorted.

Gabriel glared at him and snapped, "An awesome one!"

"_ri-ight_.." Sam nodded saracsitcally.

"What's your name again?" Gabriel asked, changing the subject.

"My name is Sam."

"Sam.." He repeated, as though testing the name. "Sam.."

"Sammy?" Dean opened the door and poked his head in. "What the hell do you think you're doing up here?"

"Nothing." Sam looked up at the ceiling.

Dean arched his eyebrow at his brother before glancing at the ceiling also. "Whaa-t are you looking at, Sammy?" He asked slowly.

"Nothing." Sam snapped his head back to Dean. Gabriel snickered.

"You've been doing a lot of nothing all night..." Dean pointed out. "You sure everythings okay?"

"Y-yeah, yeah I'm good." Sam beamed a smile at his big brother and Dean gave him a funny look.

"Okay...well...keep it down.." He casted Sam another puzzled look before shutting the door behind him and heading back downstairs.

"He didnt see you!" Sam blurted, turning back to the ghost.

"Well, _duh_," Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Thats what I just told you, Dumbo! You can only see me when you have my necklace."

Sam looked down at the dog tag in his hand and then back at Gabriel. "Am I going crazy?"

Gabriel shrugged. "Probably."

Sam sat on his bed and wrapped the necklace around his neck. He decided he would keep Gabriel.

For a little while at least.

"Gabriel," Sam asked in the middle of the night as he walked downstairs to meet the ghost in the kitchen. "How old are you?"

"thats an odd question..." Gabriel responded. He was going through the cupboards haphazardly but looked over his shoulder when Sam spoke. "I'm seventeen. You?"

"Sixteen." Sam said, reaching for an apple in the fruit bowl. "How old are you supposed to be?"

Gabriel paused for a moment and thought, "I dunno.." He pressed his lips together. "I think I should be...Twenty-something." He then shrugged and went back to the cupboards.

"What are you looking for anyway?"

"Candy. Its nearly halloween and you guys have nothing! You're so unprepared! You're so gonna get your house egged."

"Its September."

"Really? Hmm...Never too late to stock up." Gabriel rolled his shoulder.

Sam rolled his eyes. "I'll buy some this weekend. Check the top one, I think Dean stores Hearshy bars up there."

Gabriel cheered with victory as he pulled one out and tore off the wrapper, munching happily.

"I didn't think ghosts had to eat?" Sam smirked.

"Well," Gabriel swallowed. "We don't _have_ to eat but we can, and oh, baby, I have missed candy more than air!" he took another bite. "I hardly had these when I was alive. My mother never bought us any."

"What was your family like?" Sam asked, curious.

The ghost froze, his carmel eyes unblinking. "My family..." he repeated dully.

"Gabriel?" Sam said softly, realizing he had hit a nerve and instantly felt guilty. "Gabriel are you okay?"

"Yeah.." He said. "My family..they were..they were great.." His eyes flashed and he smiled at the floor, like he had just remembered a sweet memory. "Yeah..I had a beautiful mom and a dad...two older brothers, a little sister...and a baby brother.." He looked to Sam and smirked, "He's probably around your age now."

Sam tried to smile back.

"Yeah.." Gabriel said again. "But enough about me, what about your family?"

"My family?" Sam smirked. "Well, we used to be normal I guess...my mom died when I was only a baby...my brother Dean was four, he remembers her the most, he tells me about her sometimes...my dad though...he doesnt talk about Mom much. He drinks a lot...and works..." Sam tossed the apple back and forth in his palms. "I think its so he doesnt think about her as much. Keeps his mind busy, you know?...I got an Uncle Bobby too..he's more of a Dad than my dad.."

"Sorry about your mom," Said Gabriel, he was floating on his back, gazing up at the ceiling, both arms tucked behind his head. "And your Dad too I guess...But hey, about that thing you said about how your family used to be normal.."

"Yeah?"

Gabriel looked down at Sam and smiled. "No families are ever normal, kiddo."

_yeah,_ Sam thought, _maybe having Gabriel around isnt so bad._


	2. Chapter 2: Asia

**Chapter Two: Asia**

By the time Sam was walking to school Tuesday morning he wished he had never met Gabriel.

That morning the ghost had woken Sam up by blasting Heat of the Moment by Asia on his stereo. An hour early.

Sam, startled, sat up straight in his bed and nearly jumped out. Gabriel thought it was hilarious of course. Dean, however, did not.

"What do you think you're doing?!" He had shouted. "Its nearly five o'clock in the morning you asshat! Now is not the time to party, Sam!"

Sam was tired and annoyed and wanted Gabriel to go away more than anything. Mostly because he wouldn't shut up. The phantom was floating alongside the boy, munching on a Kit-Kat. "Why are you going to school?" Asked Gabriel.

"Because its Tuesday, you idiot." Sam grumbled.  
"What do you do in school?"  
"Haven't you ever been to school?"  
"Yeah, but its been a while. Are there any girls you like?"  
"No." Sam lied.  
"Oh..any boys?"

"No!" Sam stopped and glared at Gabriel who was smirking wickedly. The back of Sams neck grew hot. "Why are you asking me all these questions? Don't you have something better to do other than annoy me? Why don't you go...I dunno...go scare somebody. Go do ghost things."

"Hmm...nah. Why do that when I get to spend all day with you?"

Sam frowned and then turned back to the sidewalk to continue walking, mumbling a curse under his breath.

"OH, Winchester!"

"Oh, brother..." Sam growled as he recognized the voice. "This day just keeps getting better..."  
"Who's that?" Gabriel asked.

"Azazel and probably Alistair. Maybe if we ignore them they'll go away."

"Hey, Winchester!" Azazel slung an arm around Sams shoulder, must to the teenagers dismay, "what are you doin' talking to yourself?"

"I'm not talking to myself." Sam mumbled, flicking a glare at Gabriel, who was standing right next to him.

"It sure looked like it." chortled Alistair. "Who are you talking to then? The ghost who scared you yesterday?"

Azazel snickered and so did Gabriel. "If only they knew, kiddo!" the ghost laughed.

Sam didn't think it was very funny. The back of his neck felt too hot and he shrugged away from Azazels arm. "I wasnt scared." He said for what felt like the millionth time.

"Oh, sure you weren't, Sammy. Thats why you ran off screaming to Dean like the little bitch you are." said Azazel.

Sam glared at his feet.

"You should have seen the look on your face!" Alistair added. "It was priceless! Wait 'till we tell the school!"

Sams face was now very red and he hunched up his shoulders to hide his face.

"What are you doing kid?" Gabriel whispered, even though he didn't need to. "stand up for yourself!"

Sam merely casted Gabriel a sneer before continuing down the sidewalk with the two footballs players hurrying after him. Gabriel watched him with puzzlement. "Was it something I said?" he asked aloud before hurrying back up to Sam as they neared the school and lost the two bullies in the swarm of students.

"You better be quiet during school." Sam growled as he opened his locker.

"Okay, grumpy," Gabriel tisked.

Sam gave him another look and Gabriel rolled his eyes and held up his hands in defense. "Okay, okay, I'll be good, Sammy."

"Don't call me Sammy!" He spun around and slammed his locker. No one seemed to notice, the hall was full of loud chattering students, too busy socializing to care about angsty nerdy teenage boy problems. "You don't get to call me Sammy, Okay?! Only Dean gets to call me that! No one else!"

"I-I-just-" Gabriel blinked, his caramel eyes wide with surprise. He didnt mean it in an offensive way, he didnt really mean it in any kind of way, he didnt think about it.

"I'm sorry, kid." Gabriel said softly, landing on his feet so they were now at eye level.

"Never mind." Sam said moodily. "Forget it. I have to get to class."

He swung his books by his side as he crossed the hall to his classroom, Gabriel followed slowly behind him, meaning to keep his distance.

He wasnt one hundred per cent sure why Sam was mad at him, and usually he wouldnt care, but this time it was different. Sam was Gabriels only friend left in the world.

Sure they only met the night before but in a world where no one can see you, you make friends more easily.

The ghost walked into the class and hovered by the back of the room, a little ways a way from Sams desk in the back row. The boy immidetly pulled out his notebook and jotted down something as Gabriel watched, trying to refrain from asking any questions or talking period.

"Hi, Sam." A girl said when she sat down across from the brown haired boy. She had a cute face with big lips, straight raven hair and blue eyes.

Sams mood instantly changed. "H-hi, Ruby..." Sam stammered, blushing noticeably. "D-did you do the history homework last night?"

Gabriel slapped a palm to his face this kid was hopeless. "What a nerd." he mumbled to himself.

"Oh-uh-no I didnt..." She flashed him a smile. "But you wrote down some notes for me didnt you?"

"Oh, y-yeah!" Sam nodded happily. "I got them right here! Just like always!"

"Oh, Sam," Ruby grinned a toothy smile and touched his arm. "I knew I could always count on you."

Gabriel tried not to gag as Sam nearly melted in his seat from the girls touch. Obviously this girl was just using Sam and was not interested in him or any other part of him other than that big brain of his. It was as plain as the nose on his face.

Did Sam really think he had a chance with this girl? Ruby was popular and Sam...well...wasnt. Gabriel just knew these things. He was popular once.

Was Sam really that desperate?

"Its a good thing youre cute, kiddo." Gabriel thought as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Gabriel didn't say a word to Sam the rest of the school day and Sam seemed content with that. Instead of talking to Sam, Gabriel observed him.

He discovered Sam was very smart, and didn't have many friends from the looks of it. He sat with two people at lunch. A skinny, lanky, boy with glasses whos name was Barry, and a blonde haired girl named Jo who only talked about auto shop, but other than that Sam didn't really talk to anyone. Gabriel also saw that Sam reads _for fun_. Not only that he also reads _Latin. _Gabriel got stuck with the kid who reads Latin for fun in his free time in the Library.

Gabriel had to bite his tongue to keep himself from making a comment.

But the most obvious thing about Sam was that he was head over heels for Ruby. When ever he saw her he would stare at her with big round puppy dog eyes. Ruby would sort of smile at him, Gabriel thought maybe she felt bad for him, because it was also obvious that Ruby didn't return Sams probably will never like Sam the same way he likes her and he was completely ignorant to it.

Gabe thought it was pretty funny all the things he could point out now that he was a ghost. He also wished that he could think of a way to tell Sam about Ruby.

Sams English class was the last hour of the day and the phantom was spending it sprawled out on top of the cabinets. He was trying to take a nap as Mrs. Lafitte-who also taught Gabriel when he was alive-read The Lord of the Flies aloud to the class. Her voice was like a dull lullaby for the ghost.

Gabriel was half asleep and almost drooling when he heard a commotion come from below.

"Hey, Winchester," someone whispered. "You want to barrow some of my baby sisters pampers?"  
"_what?_" Sam whispered back.  
"I heard you pissed yourself yesterday when you went into the house on Oak. Thought you might need some in case you're still scared."

Some students around him snickered into their hands as Sams cheeks turned red, frowning at the bully.  
Gabriel propped himself up on his elbows and rolled his eyes. "Oh, please," He said, unable to keep silent a moment longer, "Kids these days have absolutely no sense of humor. If you're going to pick on him, for Gods sake say something funny. My six year old brother could think of a better insult."

Sam flicked his eyes over to the sound of Gabriels voice and then back to the bully. He smirked. "Zachariah," he said, "If you're going to pick on me, for God's sake say something funny."

"_What._" Growled Zachariah through his teeth, he was a husky boy with thin, short spiked black hair and zits covering his nose.  
"_Oooooo..._" Some students awed, placing their palms over their lips and bending their heads together to whisper.  
Gabriel grinned down at Sam, snickering, feeling a little proud even.

"You trying to start something, Winchester?" The bully whispered threateningly. "'Cause if you are, you should know that I'm gonna finish it."

"The only thing you're gonna finish is another cheeseburger, pimples." Gabriel taunted.

"The only thing you're gonna finish is another cheeseburger." Repeated Sam.

"What did you _say_, shorty?" Zachariah grabbed a hold of Sams shirt and yanked it down.  
"I think you heard me."

Up on the cabinet Gabriel was pressing his palm against his mouth, laughing hysterically and kicking his short legs as they dangled off the edge.

"You want to start something, half-pint?" The bully growled.

"_YES_!" Gabriel shouted, raising his fists and then pretending to box the air. "Hell yes! _Bring it on_, pizza face!"

"_No_." Sam said hardly.  
"_What?"_ The ghost breathed, his face crest fallen.  
"Thats what I thought, wimp." Zach snorted and threw Sam back against his chair, hitting his head against the end.

"You cant just end it like that!" Gabriel exclaimed, pointing his hand at Zachariahs head. Sam turned and mouthed '_leave it_.'

"No! You cant-"

Sam glared at him and Gabriels sentence fell into the air. He slumped his shoulders and pouted, turning to glare at the clock above the chalkboard.

The bell rang and the students almost instantly leapt from their chairs and gathered their things. Ignoring Mrs. Lafitte as she tried to shout over the commotion to remind them of tonights homework.

Gabriel stretched his arms and sank into the cabinet and out the door on the bottom. He was sick of hovering around he wanted to stretch his legs.  
As looked around for Sam a couple of students passed through him and he flinched, gripping his stomach.

"I just got the chills!"  
"_Oh, _me too! That's weird!"  
"How do you think it makes me feel, sister?!" Gabriel called after them, even though they couldn't hear him.

When a human walks through him, Gabriel used to feel hallow and cold, empty even. He hated the feeling. It just reminded him of how alone he actually was in the world. But over the past twelve years hes gotten used to it. Now he just feels numb and tinglely. Its still not the greatest feeling.

Sam was heading out the door, swinging his notebooks at his side when Zachariah and a few of his cronies came up and knocked them out of his grasp and all over the floor. Loose papers scattered under desks and bookmarks fell out of their places.

The cronies didn't hesitate to purposely step on Sams belongings as they passed, snickering.

"Mess with me again shorty," Zachariah growled under his bad breath, "You're in for a world of hurt." He punched his fist into his palm before turning on his heel and leaving out the door.

Sam huffed and bent down to pick up his things, Gabriel rushed over to help but Sam had already gathered his papers and books hapazardly in his arms and dashed out into the hallway to his locker.

"_Sam_." Gabriel sighed and hurried after him.

He met him at his locker, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Dude," he said, standing behind the Junior, "why did you back down from that fight? You could have taken on old pizza face, all you gotta do is push him over and run."

"I didnt want to fight." Sam said simply, not looking at the ghost as he stuffed his papers into his bag.

"Why not? You dont know how?"  
"No I do. Dean taught me."  
"Why then?!"  
"Because I didnt have to, Gabriel." He shut his locker door and tossed his bag over his shoulder, his thumb resting under the strap on his shoulder.

"What do you mean you didn't _have to_?! It's not like you wouldnt be kicking the crap out of him for his lunch money, youre standing up for yourself!"

"Gabriel." Sam looked over his shoulder at him and gave him a look. '_Nice bitch face_.' Gabriel frowned and lowered his lids over his eyes as he looked at the face Sam had given him at least five times already today.

"Fine, fine, I know.._leave it_." He sighed, and the two made their way out of the building.

They walked in silence until they were far enough down the sidewalk that no one else was around.

"Gabriel..." Sam began, watching his feet go up and down on the sidewalk. "I just wanna say that...I'm sorry for snapping at you this morning..."

"_Ugh_..you're not gonna get all chick flick on me are you?" The ghost rolled his eyes.

"Gabriel," Sam smirked, picking up his head. "I'm being serious. I felt bad when you didn't talk to me all day. It wasn't you I was mad at, it was Azazel and Alistair..."

The ghost smiled back at him and wrapped an arm around his shoulder, squeezing it. He felt like a weight lifted off his chest. "Its all right, Kiddo," he told Sam, "I deserved it."

Sam grinned a toothy smile and asked, "Did you see me talking back to Zachariah back there?"  
"Of course I did." Gabriel said coolly.  
"_And_?"  
The ghost smirked. "You were terrific, kiddo! Couldn't have said it better myself! I've always told you to start listening to me."  
"...You've never told me that and we haven't even known each other for twenty-four hours yet."  
"Well I'm telling you now."

Sam shook his head and laughed. Gabriels face lit up, that was the first time he had ever made Sam laugh. It was a wonderful laugh; it was childlike, happy, full of energy, and just...good. It was adorable.

Gabriel liked his liked making Sam laugh. He liked the way Sams eyes squinted and how his nose crinkled, and how it showed off all his pearly white teeth. Gabriel liked Sam.

His heart drummed in his chest as they continued their walk home. Sam asked, "Why do you think Mrs. Lafitte didn't hear us talking? I thought for sure she was gonna catch us."

"Because she's an old fart that's why."

Sam laughed again and a grin cracked across Gabriels face, digging into his cheeks and his warm honey eyes twinkled.

As the weeks passed and September began to fade, Gabriel and Sam had a bit of a routine. Gabriel did his best to help Sam with bullies and Sam spent his allowance on candy for the ghost. He didn't mind, he liked having someone to spend his money on. Every Tuesday morning Gabriel played _Heat of the Moment_, why, Sam will never know. He just knew Gabriel found it hilarious.

During school Gabriel mostly took naps or at least tried not to be distracting. Sometimes he just couldn't help himself though. He liked to mess with his old teachers that used to give him a hard time. He shot spitballs at Mr. Crowley and hid Mr. Campbells wig in Mrs. Bradburys circle of life' frog tank. He also packed lucubrated condoms into Alistairs and Azazels lockers so when they opened the doors they were buried in a wet sticky mess. Sam bought him a king size Crunch bar for that one. He didn't say that was the reason but Gabriel knew it was a way of saying thank you.

Gabriel seemed to enjoy his time with Sam, he liked being able to get back into his prank game. But one thing he absolutely couldn't stand, was Ruby Johnson.

He despised the girl. He didn't like the way she talked down to Sam, how she treated him like her little servant. The only time she talked to him was when she needed something. It was obvious she was only pretending to like him and that drove Gabriel mad. He tried telling Sam but he only ignored him and continued going on about how wonderful she was.

Every Monday through Friday morning Gabriel had to sit and watch Sam stare at Ruby for an hour. It was dreadful. So every day in their Algebra Two class he would try to get Sams attention one way or another.

_Look at me, Sam. _Gabriel thought as he sat on the counter top and frowned at the boy. _Look at me not, Ruby...Me, look at me! _Gabriel crumpled up a stray piece of paper and threw it at Sams head, missing it and hitting his shoulder. Sam ignored him. The ghost pouted and swiped another one, wadding it up like the one before and chucked it at his back. Still nothing. He repeated this action; hitting the sixteen year olds arms and shoulders and back until finally he nailed him in the head.

Sam slowly turned his head and glared at the ghost. He raised his eyebrows, _what?! _He said with his face. Gabriel merely smiled and waved eagerly. Sam looked at him with half lidded eyes before turning back to face the board. "_Attention whore."_ He whispered in a low voice, a smirk on his lips.

Gabriel grinned and leaned back, kicking his legs. _Mission accomplished._

"Why do you like Ruby exactly?" Gabriel asked Sam later that day in the library as Sam sat over a book about ghosts and Gabe sat back in the chair munching on a bag of M&Ms. The book was old, the pages looked brown and they smelled like dust and smoke, the edges were ripped and frayed.

"Because shes perfect." Sam sighed blissfully, running his finger along the pages as he read.

"Yeah, I got that the first one hundred times you said that..." The ghost rolled his eyes.

"Well, whats wrong with her?" Sam looked up from his book and gave his friend a quizzical look.

"Nothing, nothing..." Gabriel shoved another handful of chocolate candies into his mouth and Sam raised his book to his face. "if you like girls who use you.." he added under his breath. Sam slammed his book back down, rupturing a loud banging echo around the library, and frowned.

"_Shhh!" _Miss Pond hissed from her desk at the other side of the library. Sam sunk into his chair and glared at Gabriel.

"Shut up, will you," He whispered. "You're going to get me in trouble."

"I'm not doing anything." Gabriel cocked his head to the side like Castiel does. "She can't hear me," he turned towards the librarian and began to shout, "HEY! HEY MISS POND! YOU-WHO! Hey! Teacher-lady!" Gabriel waved his hands and whistled. He then turned to Sam and said, "People used to say she's part dinosaur." The sixteen year old snorted back a laugh and told Gabriel to shush.

"You're so dumb. Now, shut up, I found something," He whispered again. "It says here that people can only become ghosts if they've died a violent death, like suicide or murder. How did you die, Gabe?"

Gabriel glared at Sam through half-lidded eyes and Sam turned back to his book, blushing and apologizing, "Right, sorry, sorry, don't listen to me I'm an idiot." He flipped another page and continued reading, "it also says that spirits are usually connected to an object that was theirs when they were alive...it also says that ghosts wont go near salt or iron...and you can kill them by burning the object they're attached to." Sam clasped the dog tag hanging off his neck in his hand, pressing it against his palm. He looked over to the phantom and smirked, "Pretty cool, huh?"

Gabriel pressed his lips together as he leaned forward, his eyes scanning the book. He nodded slowly. "I'm finding out more about myself everyday...You know Sam, I'd say it was destiny that the two of us met. I could have gotten stuck with anyone else. That's destiny."  
"I wouldn't call it destiny, Gabe." Sam wrinkled his nose and smirked.

"No?"

"Nope. It's just my dumb luck that I'd be stuck with a pathetic ghost like you." He teased.


	3. Chapter 3: The Novaks

**Chapter Three: The Novaks**

Sam and Gabriel were walking to school on the last morning of September. Gabriel was babbling about Halloween and how he and Sam should go trick or treating.  
"It'll be fun!" He said, "I could wear a sheet over my head so it looks like I'm a real kid! You can invite Barry and Jo too!"  
Sam snorted, "Gabe, we're not going trick or treating."

"Well why not? It's free candy! If we go you won't have to buy me any for at least two weeks tops."  
"I'm too old for trick or treating," said Sam, "The neighbors wouldn't give us candy anyways 'cause we're high schoolers."  
"What do you usually do on Halloween then?"  
"Watch scary movies with Dean."  
"_Uggghhhh_," The ghost moaned, "Sa-ammm, that's so bori-ng! I have been deprived of years of trick or treating! Please, Sam, be a pal. Won't you take your ol' ghost buddy trick or treating?"

"Hmmm...let me think-no."  
"UGHHH!" Gabriel threw his head back in agony. "Please!"  
"No."  
"Please?"  
"No."  
"Pretty please?"  
"No."  
"Pleaaaasseee."  
"No."  
They continued this until they reached the school grounds and Sam turned to him and said, "Gabriel, if I say I'll think about it will you shut up for once?"  
"Yes!" The phantoms face lit up.

Sam was about to open his mouth to say to Gabriel that he'll think about it then, but instead he was knocked to the ground by an unexpected force. He turned to look over his shoulder to see Zachariah standing over him. "Talking to yourself again, Winchester?" He said, "as if you couldn't be even more of freak."  
Sam didn't see but Gabriels eyes suddenly turned cold and his hands curled into fists. Zachariah continued talking as Sam tried to get up off the grass.  
"How long has it been since you've seen your daddy, Sam? Weeks? Or months? Is it true that he left you and your brother for good?"  
Something snapped in Sam at that moment. As soon as Zachariah mentioned John Winchester in front of him there was a dark flash in his green eyes. He scrambled to his feet and turned to face the bully.

"Don't you dare talk about my dad, Zachariah." Sam warned, "You don't know anything about him."  
Zachariah grinned coldly, he liked that he was getting a rise out of Sam. "Makes sense that he would leave you anyway. Why would he want to be responsible for raising a drop out and a freak like you."

"Shut up, Zach."

"Aw, why? Did I hurt your feelings?" He taunted, "Too bad Dean dropped out huh? He's not here anymore to watch out for you is he? Whose gonna protect baby Sammy now?" Zachariah reached out and grabbed Sams sweatshirt and pulled him up to his face, they were practically nose to nose. Zachariah was about to either hit Sam or toss him back onto the ground to smack his head but ended up doing neither. Because in the next moment, Gabriel had surged forward, through Sam, and then used all the force he could muster to knock into Zachariah. The bully lost his grip on Sam and fell backwards onto the pavement. Sam stood back in awe as his ghost sat on top of Zachariah and brought his fist down onto the bullies face. Everyone around them was in shock also, as they couldn't see who was giving Zachariah a bloody nose.  
"Gabe.." Sam said as quietly as he could, his eyes scanning the onlookers around the scene. "Gabriel..."  
The ghost struck the bully one last time before turning to his friend. He seemed ignorant to the fact that he was invisible to everyone expect Sam and it was a strange sight to see Zachariah being beaten up by no one.  
"Gabriel we should go now..." Sam said out of the corner of his mouth.  
The ghosts brain finally clicked. He looked at all the faces around him who couldn't see him. He looked lost.  
"Sam?" Castiels voice broke through the crowd.  
_Shit_. Sam thought.

He hurriedly ran up to Gabriel and grabbed him by the collar of his green jacket and pulled him away from the school. The students made a path for Sam to run through as he ran as fast as his legs could carry him. Gabriel wasn't exactly helping.  
Sam didn't stop running until they reached Oak Street. He was out of breath but managed to shout at his ghost, "What the hell was that for?!"  
Gabriel looked confused, "Wait, you're mad at me?"  
"Um, yes, dumbass! What the hell were you thinking? You're going to get me suspended!"  
"I don't know why you're mad at me, kiddo, I was standing up for you. I don't think I did anything wrong." Gabriel frowned.  
"Of course you don't," Sam chuckled darkly, "You don't ever think, do you! I don't need you, or anyone else fighting my battles for me, all right? I can take care of myself."  
"If you can take care of yourself why don't you just kick the crap out of those dicks and they'll leave you alone! That's what I don't understand! You say you can so why don't you?"  
"Because, Gabriel!" Sam threw his hands up in the air, "Because I just don't want to! Is it so hard to grasp that concept?! I don't want to fight! There are other ways to settle things other than hand to hand combat! Jesus Christ!"  
Gabriels face fell slightly. "Sorry." He said in a hard voice. "I was...I was just..."  
"Protecting me?" Sam spat, "You're just like Dean, aren't you. I don't need to be protected, Gabriel."  
The two fell into silence. The ghost glared at the sidewalk, awkwardly kicking a pebble with his shoe as Sam dug his trembling fingers into his palms. The boy then sighed and slung his backpack over his shoulder, "I'm just going to go home." He announced. And without another word he spun on his heel and headed back to his house. Gabriel slowly followed.

Dean was working at the garage so Sam was home alone. Dean most likely won't hear about the fight unless school calls him at work or Cas tells him later. Either way Sam will have to hear Deans lecture of knowing when and where to fight. Sam was just tired. He threw his bag on the couch and collapsed next to it, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb. Gabriel hovered awkwardly by himself a distance away.  
The house was deathly quiet until Sam sighed heavily.  
"I'm sorry for blowing up at you, Gabriel."  
"I deserved it." He said softly, "I shouldn't be fighting other peoples fights.."  
"No, no," Sam waved his hand and turned to look at the ghost, "Don't say you deserve being yelled at, Gabe. You don't. You were just trying to help. Really, it's okay. Just...let me handle it next time...All right?"  
Gabriel smiled, "So...Friends again?"  
"Friends again."  
Gabriel flew over and cuddled Sams face against his chest, cooing, "I knew you couldn't stay mad at me, Sammich! I knew it!"  
"Yeah, yeah, okay," Sam squirmed, "Now get off me willyah! I can't breathe!"  
Gabriel just hugged him tighter.

That night when Dean came home he didn't speak to Sam until dinner. Gabriel watched the brothers eat as he sat at the table, his short legs prevented his feet from barely touching the floor. For a while all that could be heard was the sound of silverware hitting glass, but Dean soon spoke.  
After taking a swig of water from his glass he looked up at Sam across the table and said, "Cas told me you were in a fight today."  
"Yeah." Sam replied in a hallow voice, not meeting his brothers gaze.  
"He said you gave the kid a bloody nose."  
"Yeah."  
"The kid didn't turn you in though."  
"What?" Gabriel and Sam said at the same time. The younger Winchester finally looked up from his plate, puzzled.  
Dean took another drink. "Yep. Apparently he just got up when he came to and went about his day. Cas thinks he was too embarrassed from gettin' beat up by a nerd." His brother was smiling now. "You got lucky, Sammy, I'll tell you that. Wish I could have gotten away with that when I was in school. I never could get away with anything."

"Gabriel, you must be some kind of good luck charm." Sam whispered under his breath and the ghost snickered.  
"What was that, Sammy?"  
"Nothing, Dean."

It was a few weeks later, and it was now October. The air was now crisp and cold and Dean was stocking up on apple pie since he claims the apples taste best around this time of year. The Winchester house smelled of cinnamon and pumpkin guts, and there was a big bowl of candy sitting in the middle of the kitchen table. In which from time to time mysterious handfuls of sweets would go disappearing right under the brothers noses. Ever since the fight Zachariah has been so scared of Sam he won't even look at him.

Gabriel and Sam were in Sams bedroom, the junior was laying on his bed, his head propped up with a pillow and his nose in Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone. Gabriel was laying on the carpet below him, tossing a bouncy ball into the air and catching it.

It was raining outside, the drops pattered Sams window like tiny bullets. It was the weekend and Dean would be gone all day at the garage so it was just Gabriel and Sam home alone. Gabriel wasn't enjoying the time inside.

"_Ugh, Sammm_!" He whined, letting the bouncy ball fade through his hand. "I'm _bored_!"

"_SHHHH_!" Sam hushed him imminently, his eyes glued to the text. "I think they're going to catch Snape this time..."

Gabriel frowned and stood up, walking around Sams room mindlessly. "Sa-am, I'm touching your st-uff." Gabriel told him, trying to get his attention as he grabbed one of his Latin books and waved it around.

"mmmhmm, that's nice, Gabe..." Sam muttered, not really listening to him. Gabriel pouted, setting the book down and grabbing Sams green notebook instead. He thumbed through it, not for any particular reason, he just wanted something to look at. Latin wasn't really his cup of tea.

As Gabe flipped through Sams notebook he came across some pieces of writing scribbled down in Sams spidery handwriting. There was a lot of short stories in the notebook, they were all about urban legends; werewolves, vampires, some weird creature called a wendigo, Gabriel had never heard of them. They were all...supernatural stories about different creatures and different characters.

Gabriel smiled as his eyes scanned the paper, they were really good.

"Did you write these, Kiddo?" The ghost asked.

"Hmm-wha-what? Hey! Don't read those!" Sam lept from his bed and dashed across the room, swiping the stories away and holding them against his chest, his face growing very red.

"What?! They aren't bad, I liked them!" Gabriel looked at him, puzzled as to why Sam was embarrassed of his work.  
"How many times do I have to tell-wait...you-you like them?" the boy asked softly.

"Of course I did, they're brilliant! You came up with them all by yourself?"

"Well...Yeah..I just.I just looked up myths about old monsters you know? And watched a lot of scary movies," Sam smirked, rolling his shoulder, "and I..I just wrote about them."

"You should be a writer, kiddo." Gabriel said seriously, snatching the notebook back. "I like the one about the scarecrow."

Sam grinned, his green eyes sparkled with pride. "I like that one too..."

"You should write one about me." Said Gabriel cockily, smirking.

Sam snickered, "Oh, yeah? What would I call it? Gabriel the Attention Whore?"  
"Actually, I was thinking more like..._The Bloody Sex God From Hell._"  
"Bloody...sex...God?"  
"Yeah," Gabriel shrugged, "Or how about one were I'm Loki! The God of Mischief!"  
"Okay, Gabriel, sure, but you already have a story." Sam rolled his eyes, taking the notebook back and setting it on the desk, turning back to his bed to finish reading his book.

Gabriel stood, puzzled. "I do?"

Sam looked over his shoulder and cocked his eyebrow. "Y-eah..Don't tell me you've never even heard your own story before."

Gabriel shook his head, his eyebrows furrowed. "I have a story?"

"well, yeah, why do you think kids always dare each other to go into that old house? Did you think they were visiting?"

The ghost shrugged and sat next to Sam on the bed. "I never really thought about it I guess...What does the story say about me?"

"Well...Dean used to tell me the stories all the time, I think different families have their own way of telling it but they're all pretty much the same. It goes like..._Many years ago, there lived a happy family in a big house on a normal street. They were living your average American pie life, but there was something twisted in that house," _As Sam told the tale the rain pattered harder against the house, Gabriel listened attentively, his face serious and he hung onto every word.

"_They lived in the house on the corner of Oak Street. It was Halloween night when it happened. The mom and dad had gone out and the kids where all doing their own thing, trick or treating, out at their own parties. But they were to be at eleven. So they were. But when they got home, something terrible happened...One of the brothers, was waiting for his brothers and sisters to come home. He was waiting for them with a knife in his hand. No one knows why he did it, some say he had been crazy all his life but his family ignored it, others say something his father used to beat him and something finally broke. What people do know is, that when the cops showed up, there was blood everywhere. The boy had chopped them up into pieces, it was hard to tell whose parts were whose. And the boy, they say he was had finally realized what he had done, and slit his own throat in the kitchen. They found him face down in a pile of candy. His spirit still haunts the house, waiting for his next victims_."

When Sam finished he sat up straight and smiled. "Pretty dumb right?"

Gabriel blinked and shook his head, coming to his senses. "Oh-oh yeah..Yeah that was...something..?"

"Yeah, its pretty much just a load of horse shit. I know that didn't really happen. They're just dumb stories made up to terrorize little kids."

"heh...yeah..."

Sam looked up to see Gabriel staring down at his hands glumly, in a daze. His face paler than usual, his caramel eyes loosing their glint.

"You okay, Gabe?"

Gabriel looked up instantly. "hmmm..? Oh...Yeah I'm fine...I..Is that what people really think of me?" His eyes looked different, Sam thought. Something was off about Gabriel, his eyes were...upset. Confused even. The ghost turned back to his hands, clenching them into fists.

"Well, Gabe, they don't know you, there wasn't ever a name in that story, no one thinks its real." Sam sat on his knees and inched closer to the ghost, stretching out his hand towards his shoulder. "They don't know you...like I do."

Gabriel looked up to his friend and smiled weakly. "Thanks, Sam...you're right that story is dumb...its nothing compared to The Bloody Sex God From Hell."

"Oh, yes, definitely."

Gabriels face cracked into a real grin before he leaned over hugged Sam. The teenager was taken a back for a moment, his arms pinned to his sides as the ghost squeezed him, nuzzling his head into his shoulder.

"Um...Gabe..." Sam said, "Gaberiel...you can-uh..let go now."

Gabriel pulled away, still smiling. "Sorry." He rolled his shoulders. His heart was thumping hard in his chest. He didnt want to let Sam go, he felt warm and comforting and whole, when Gabe pulled a part he simply felt cold. Ghost-like.

"Its still raining out," Sam pointed out, looking out the window and changing the subject to get Gabriel back to his normal self. "What do you want to do?"

"Ever play strip poker?" Gabriel grinned a crooked smile, cocking his head to the side. Sam thought he looked a little like Castiel when he did that.

"We're not playing strip poker." He rolled his eyes.

"Aw, why not? You dont want me to see your Batman underwear?"

Sam blushed and snapped another glare at him. "Why do you-"

Gabriel wiggled his eyebrows up and down, winking suggestively. Sam frowned and stared at Gabriel with another one of his famous bitch faces.

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop going through my stuff, asshole!"  
"Hey! That's Sex God to you, punk!"  
"Gabriel!"

It was still raining when Dean came home at six that night and brought Cas along with him.  
Gabriel had seen Cas before but whenever the dark haired boy stepped into the house Gabriel seemed very distant. He would sometimes even stare at Cas for minutes at a time, observing him.  
Once Sam saw Gabriel hovering right in front of Castiels face, inches away from touching his nose with his own. He was squinting, eyebrows furrowed in puzzlement. Like he knew Cas, like he had seen him before some place but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Are you going to stare at Cas again tonight," Sam teased Gabriel as they headed downstairs when Dean called his brother for dinner. "Or have you accepted the fact you two can't be together?"

"Actually I think I'm strictly into boys who wear the dark knight on their undergarments." Gabriel smirked.  
When they passed Deans room Sam shoved him into the door and Gabriel phased through.

"AH GROSS." The ghost shouted and Sam laughed when he phased out the door, his arms crossed and his eyes glaring. "When is the last time he cleaned in there?!"

"probably not since the Dark Ages." Sam commented.

"I probably caught the plague," Gabe coughed.

"Good thing you're already dead."

The two entered the kitchen and Dean looked down at Sam, frowning. "Are you talking to yourself?"

"uhh...I read somewhere that talking to yourself makes you smarter...?" Sam lied.

Dean chuckled and ruffled Sams hair. "You don't need to get any smarter, Sammy, you're great the way you are." He then turned on his heel to put dinner on the table; oven ready made pizza from Wal-Mart.

Dean and Sam sat on either side of Cas and Gabriel took the empty chair across from him, eyeing the candy jar with greed and licking his lips. Sam looked at him through the corners of his eyes, warning him not to take any in front of Dean and Castiel.

Gabriel wrinkled his nose and sat back in his chair, pouting.

"Cas, you doing anything for Halloween?" Sam turned his head to his friend. Dean snapped his head to glare at his brother, he must have known something Sam didn't.

Cas paused as he was about to take a bite of his pizza, he chuckled and set it down, shaking his head. "You know I never do, Sam."

"I know...but I just thought it'd be different this year. You can just hang out with us and watch scary movies all night, right, Dean?" He turned to his big brother. Dean tried to smile it seemed, tried to hide something. He turned back to Cas and said softly, "You can if you want, Cas...No ones forcing you to go...visit that place you know?"

Gabriel seemed interested in the conversation now, he leaned forward, his elbows on the table. He was squinting at Cas again...slowly tilting his head to the side as Cas looked up from his plate to meet Deans eyes. "No, no, I have to.." he sighed. "Its...kind of..a family tradition...besides...they say...his time is coming up.."

"Who's time?" Sam blurted ignorantly.

"Yeah, who..." Gabriel whispered under his breath.

"_shhh, Sam._" Dean hushed, placing a hand on his friends shoulder and squeezing it. "You Novaks have some screwed up family traditions, I mean you don't feel comfortable around _him_, Cas, why do you have to go?"

"He's still _family_, Dean..."  
"Just because you're blood doesn't mean you're family. You gotta earn that. And Cas, that kid lost that a long time ago."

Sam hardly heard the conversation going on between the two, he was looking over at Gabriel who was now laying across the table, flat on his stomach. His eyes had grown wide, his face looked almost petrified in shock. He didn't move for a long time, he looked like a statue. and then, he burst out of the room. He was gone in a whir of light. He nearly toppled the chair over, the pans hanging above the stove clattered together noisily while the whole room turned ice cold.

Cas shuttered and Dean looked around the kitchen, confused. "What was that?" He said slowly, turning to Sam as though he knew he would know.

"Um...Maybe the living room window is open..?" He responded.

"Go shut it."

Sam nodded and hurriedly left the kitchen, but he ran upstairs after Gabriel. When he reached the top of the stairs he slowly walked down the hall, gliding his hand against the wall. He heard a quiet weeping echoing from his room, the door was shut.

He pressed his hand against the door and pushed it slowly open, Gabriel was sitting on Sam's bed, his palms pressed against his eyes, he was choking down sobs as tears slid down his pale face, shuttering and gasping for a breath.

"Gabriel?" Sam said softly. "Whats wrong?"

Gabriel whispered something inaudible under his breath, another sob coming over.

"wh-what?" Sam asked again, crossing the room to get closer to his friend.

"He's my brother..." He said in a louder whisper, wiping his nose with his wrist.

Sam stood, puzzled. He wracked his brain trying to remember if anyone had come up, if anyone could possibly be related to Gabriel. He couldn't remember anyone, they hadn't even really talked _about_ anyone. "Who's your brother?" he asked.

"_Castiel!" _Gabriel lifted his head, shouting, aggravated. His face was blotchy and red, his eyes swollen with tears and his nose looked like a cherry. "Castiel is my brother. He's my baby brother."  
Gabe slumped back down, his shoulders hitching forward with every sob escaping from his throat.

Sam stood, dumbfounded and unblinking.  
_Castiel_? He thought. _How could Castiel be.._  
"But I thought..." Sam furrowed his eyebrows in thought. "I thought your family was...was.."

Gabriel shot his head up, his face now contorted into anger. "_Dead?_" He growled through his teeth. "You thought my family was _dead_?"

"well-I-I just-"

"I thought you didn't believe those stories, Sam." Gabriel stood up from the bed, his fists clenched tight. His face was very serious, his caramel eyes turned hard and shot daggers through Sams skull. "I thought you said they were _horseshit_." Gabriel was different now. He was frightening and furious. For a moment, if Sam hadn't known Gabriel at all, he would have believed this was the man who killed his family.

"I did!" Sam took a step backwards and raised his hands. "I dont believe them Gabriel! Honest I dont!"

"_Listen_!" Gabriel roared, pointing a finger in Sams face and standing on his tip toes to make himself taller. "I _didnt _kill myself! _Got it_?! I did not kill myself! I dont _care_ what the stories say I did not kill myself and I sure as hell didnt kill _my family_ so you can just shut the hell up you don't know what you're talking about!"

Sam stared up at the ghost with round worried eyes, breathing hard. "I believe you, Gabriel." He said softly. "I believe you."

Gabriel seemed to realize what he had just said to Sam and how he had said it, he relaxed and lowered himself onto his feet, his face falling. He took a deep breath, looking at his hands and clenching them. "I'm sorry." He said under his breath. "I didnt mean to yell at you, kiddo."

"It's okay, Gabe..." Sam whispered. "Really...I..I shouldn't have said that."

Gabriel looked up at him and sighed, sitting back down on the bed heavily. "I just..I can't believe it...I..I found Castiel...Do you know how the rest of my family is? How is Anna? And Micheal? And Mom and Dad? How are they? Are they okay?"

Sam shrugged, sitting next to his friend. "Dunno...Cas never talks about his family...not to me anyway. I didn't even know Castiel has any brothers and sisters."  
"Oh..." Gabriels face fell again and he looked at his lap, his head hung low and his hair fell over his forehead. "I just...I want to know if they're okay..."

"Well, Cas seems to be getting along just fine so they can't be too bad right?"

Looking at his knees, Gabriel chuckled. "Yeah, that's true. That's true, kiddo. The...the last time I saw them though...they looked so...destroyed..."

"When was that?"  
"When they moved. Cas was six."  
"After you...?"  
"Yep," Gabriel sighed, "after I."

"Wow..." Sam breathed, "You died when Cas was only six." Gabriel only nodded, still studying his knees. His fine golden hair hid his eyes. "Gabriel..."  
"What?"  
"How did you die, anyway?"  
Gabriel turned his head towards Sam and smirked, snorting and wiping his face again. "you really wanna know, kiddo?"

Sam nodded. The ghost sighed and sat up, rubbing the back of his neck. "All right...I'll tell you. But if you ever write about me you gotta stick with the Sex God stuff, okay?"

Sam smirked and crossed his heart with his pinky finger. "Yeah, whatever I promise."

Gabe smiled and turned, sitting criss-cross on Sams bed so he would be facing him as he unfolded his tale from the back of his mind where he kept it hidden all these years, trying and trying to forget that one unfaithful dark night. But he never could. It would creep up on Gabriel in the dead of night, sometimes out of no where. It haunted his nights and sometimes his days. Sometimes a sound, or an object would trigger his memory back to the moment. He remembers those dark times in the house on Oak when he would collapse in pain, remembering the agony of the night, the terror, the screams. No matter what he did it always followed. He remembered every detail as though it had happened a mere seconds before. He could recall what it smelled like if Sam asked him. How could anyone forget the way they died?


	4. Chapter 4: How Did You Die Anyway?

**Chapter Four: How Did You Die Anyway?**

(_ohmygod I think I just wrote the saddest chapter of fan fiction in the history of sad fan faction you've read Twist and Shout and you compare it that then its not that sad but still its pretty sad. I'm sorry. Don't read this if you're sensitive to bro feels or blood or character or homophobia or any of that stuff okay? Love you guys!)_

_Twelve years ago. October 31st, 1986. _

_4:30 P.M. _

Mrs. Novak sat in front of her vanity, puckering her lips as she smoothed cherry red lipstick over them. She sat back and smiled at herself, tidying up her cat ears.  
The Novaks lived what they liked to think of as a normal life. They were as normal as they could get. Mr. Novak was a nurse and Mrs. Novak was a writer. She worked at home to stay with her children, her eldest was Micheal, and the youngest was Castiel. Micheal was now twenty two and was studying at the same college as his younger brother Lucifer, who was twenty one and a freshman to the campus. He had gotten in on a football scholarship. Lucifer wasn't very into studying, he would rather enjoy the college life of beer and partying than stay booked up in the library like his older brother. Than there was Gabriel, he was seventeen years old, a high school senior, and well known as the school prankster. There wasn't a man alive who wasn't aware of the wrath of Gabriel Novak. The only girl was Anna. She was fifteen and just starting to get used to high school life as a freshman. Not only was she the only girl in her family she was also the only one with dark red hair. She was quite popular among the students, being the younger sister of the school prankster. But most of the boys lived in fear of dating her, for if the relationship were to go wrong, Gabriel wouldn't be far behind with a bucket gun full of some unidentifiable liquid. Then there was Castiel. The baby of the family. He was six years old and everyone seemed to have a special place in their heart for him. He was the baby after all.  
Yes, the Novaks liked to think they were quite ordinary. Of course Lucifer (and sometimes Gabriel) managed to get himself into trouble from time to time, and he and Micheal often butted heads but other than that they thought they were living the perfect life they always dreamed of having. Of course, every family has their demons.

"Are you almost ready, Dear?" Mrs. Novak called to her husband who was getting ready in their restroom.  
"Just about," He said back, stepping out of the bathroom, dressed in a giant gorilla suit. Mrs. Novak laughed at him as he spread his arms out and spun around. "How do I look?" his eyes smiled.

"You look wonderful, darling." His wife got up off her stool and walked over to kiss him.

"Mommy! Mommy!" Castiel raced into the bedroom, grinning and holding out his arms for her to pick him up. It was the first Halloween he going to trick or treat.

"Yes, angel?" She laughed, scooping the six year old into her arms and kissing his cheek, marking him with a cherry red lip stain.

"Mommy is Gabriel taking me trick or treating yet?"

"No, not yet, sweetie, trick or treat doesn't start till later."

"Oh..." Castiel stuck out his lower lip and slumped in his mothers arms. His father smoothed back his sons dark hair and chuckled.

"How about you just go ahead and get into your costume? That way you'll be ready when Gabe takes you." He told him.

"Okay, Daddy!" Castiel squirmed out of his mothers arms and scampered down the hallway towards his bedroom.

"You think he'll be all right without us here?" Mrs. Novak sighed, "It is his first Halloween trick or treating..."  
"Honey," said her husband, "Stop worrying they'll be fine! Castiel _wants _Gabriel to take him. He's not going to mind if we're at a party while he's trick or treating, it'll be fine."  
She sighed again as Mr. Novak rubbed her shoulder reassuringly, "Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm sure everything will be fine."

"Mommy!" Castiel's voice rang from his bedroom, "Mommy, help! My costumes stuck on my head!"

Mrs. Novak chuckled and shook her head, walking out into the hallway towards Castiels room. "I'm coming, baby, don't worry!"

_4:50 P.M._

"Gabriel what are you doing?" Anna cocked her hip to the side, placing a hand on her waist and pressing her lips together, glaring at her older brother.  
Gabriel was standing over the island counter, a black cauldron sat in front of him, it was releasing a strange aroma as the seventeen year old stirred it slowly. He looked over his shoulder at his fifteen year old sister and grinned devilishly. "Just a little bit of Halloween fun." He said.

"You're supposed to take Castiel trick or treating tonight, you know that, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, don't worry the little rug rat will get his candy..." He waved her off, turning back to his cauldron that he had bought at the Halloween store.

"I'll tell Mom!" Anna threatened, her carrot orange eyebrows looked like perfect arcs when they furrowed over her bright blue eyes.

"Oh, yeah?" Her brother taunted. "You do that and I'll tell her about how you're going out with Inias tonight, not Racheal. You might want to re-hide that diary of yours, Anna, like really, Cas could think of better ways to hide it other than the sock drawer. "

Annas eyes widened in terror, her cheeks turning a rosy red. She grumbled a curse under her breath and Gaberiel tisked at her. "Now, Now, Anna Banana, there is no need for foul langague."

Anna punched him in the arm before turning on her heel and stomping out of the kitchen, mumbling more curses under her breath.

"Hey, Gabe," Lucifer whispered when he came into the kitchen, rapping his knuckles on the open door.  
"Luce! Get a load of this!" Gabriel called him over, grinning.  
He hurried to the counter to look over his short brothers shoulder and laughed with excitement, shaking Gabriels shoulder, "Awesome! This party is gonna be killer."

"I know," Grinned the younger brother, "You're sure Mr. Goody-Goody won't show up?"

"He wasn't planning on it. He said he was staying back at the dorm to finish some paper."

"_Ugh_, school work." Gabriel rolled his eyes, trembling at the thought. "_Disgusting_."

Lucifer snickered and grabbed his little brother in a headlock, balling up his fist and giving him a nougie. "I knew there was a good reason why you're my favorite sibling."

Gabriel laughed and pushed the twenty one year old off of him, turning back to the cauldron. "You better hurry up and get ready, Lou, Mom and Dad are leaving soon, and the sooner I take Cas out to get candy the sooner we can _par-tay_."

"Right, I'm on it!" Lucifer slugged his brothers shoulder playfully before turning and dashing up the stairs to his old room which was now where he stayed when he came to vist from College.

Gabriel rubbed his arm and glared after his brother. "Why the hell is everyone hitting me today?!"

_5:15 P.M._

Castiel ran around and around the house, in his dinosaur costume, the green tail wagging around behind him. He spotted Gabriel in the kitchen and jumped out at him screaming, "_RAWR_!" Hitching up his shoulders and curling his fingers like claws. He giggled when Gabriel pretended to yelp and jump, dropping his spoon and spinning around to see his baby brother.

"Oh, no! Not a dinosaur!" Gabriel placed both of his hands on his cheeks, acting terrified. "I thought we killed you all!"

Cas pretended to growl as he slowly walked towards his brother, bearing his teeth and smiling. "What am I going to do!" Gabriel swooned. "Oh, help! Help! Someone help me! I'm about to be eaten!" He then smiled at Castiel and scooped him up in his arms tickling him.

The six year old squealed with laughter, squirming and kicking to get away from Gabriel. "Stop! Stop!" He squeaked.

"Not until you say I'm the best brother in the whole world!" Gabriel tickled Castiels armpits and the little boy giggled, pushing his hands away, trying to catch his breath.

"Okay!" He breathed, still giggling, "Gabriel is the best brother in the world."

The seventeen year old grinned and blew a raspberry against his little brothers stomach before setting him down. "And don't you forget it! Now go scare Anna and Louie okay?"

"Okay!" Castiel grinned and ran out of the kitchen giggling.

"Boys!" Mr. Novak called for his children. They now stood in the foyer in front of the stairs. Mrs. Novak was buttoning up her coat and talking to Anna, reminding her the rules.  
"Your mother and I are leaving!"

"Now, Anna, I don't want you out late with Racheal, okay?" Mrs. Novak told her daughter. "I want you home by nine at the latest."

"_Mom_." Anna sighed.

"It'd be different if we were home, Dear, just promise me you'll be home by nine."  
"Okay, I promise, Mom." Anna folded her arms across her chest.

Castiel bounded into the room and clung to his fathers leg, laughing as Lucifer walked down the stairs in his football jersey and two black lines under his eyes.

"Very original, Lou." Mr. Novak teased.

"Aren't you a football player everyday?" Anna rolled her eyes, smirking.

"Yeah," Lucifer shrugged, "But tonight I'm a dead football player."

Castiel scrunched up his face and growled, "hut, hut!" like his brothers taught him to. Lucifer chuckled and bent over, curving his arms towards his chest and growling back, "Hut, hut, hike!"  
Castiel squealed with laughter as he cuddled his fathers leg.

"Wheres Gabriel?" Mr. Novak asked, looking around for his son, pulling his six year old off of his costume.

"Right here!" He smiled, appearing from the kitchen.

"Aren't you dressing up too, honey?"  
"My costumes upstairs, I'll put it on before I take Castiel out."

"Okay, well, you all be good okay? Make sure Cassie is in bed by eight and don't let him eat all his candy, he'll get a stomach ache, remember when you did that, Gabriel?" Their mother raised her eyebrows at him as their father tried to pull her out the door.

"Hurry up, Becky, we're going to late, honey. They know the rules, don't worry. They're good kids." He said, grabbing his car keys from the hook by the front door.

"Oh, I know...I just.." Rebecca sighed and bent down and kissed Castiels forehead, and then Lucifer, and Anna, and finally Gabriel. She held his face and looked at him in his caramel eyes. "Be good, Gabriel."

"Awh, c'mon, Ma," He smirked a lopsided smile. "whats the worst that can happen?"

_6:15_

"Hurry up, Gabriel!" Cas yelled up the staircase. "People are already trick or treating! All the candy's gonna be gone!" Castiel had been pacing the foyer for what he felt like was an eternity. His little Chuck Taylors (identical to his older brothers) were stomping back and forth as his dinosaur tail dragged behind him.

"No its not, Cas, stop whining." Gabriel said as he trampled down the stairs. Grabbing his green jacket off the end of the banister. He spotted Anna heading out the door wearing a Minnie Mouse costume.

"Whoa, whoa, Anna Banana what in the world are you wearing?" He frowned.

"A costume...?" She rolled her eyes.

"Really? It looks more like a dress you wore when you were eight."

Anna wrinkled her nose and stuck her tongue out at him before turning on her heel and leaving out the door.

"She's gonna be trouble, Cassie." Gabriel nodded to himself.

Cas wasn't listening to him, he was swinging his plastic pumpkin bucket impatiently. "_Gabrie-llll_!"

"All right, All right, I'm coming!" Gabriel jumped the last step and called back to Lucifer, telling him he'd be back soon and to get the decorations finished.

"Gabriel where is your costume?" Castiel asked as Gabe ushered him out the front door.

"This is my costume."  
"I don't get it."  
"Whats not to get?"  
"Who are you supposed to be?"  
Gabriel pulled out a plastic hockey mask from his pocket and curled his fingers like claws, saying in a deep voice, "I'm Jason!"  
"Jason?" Castiel asked, "I have a Jason in my class! He's not scary!"  
Gabriel laughed under his mask, "He's from a movie, Cas."

Castiel furrowed his eyebrows in thought and pressed his lips together, trying to make sense of his big brothers words as the two walked down the sidewalk, the yellow, orange, red, and brown colored leaves crunching under them as the sun rested on the horizon, looking like a giant pumpkin in the sky.

_7:30 P.M_

Cas and Gabriel walked through the chain link gate and across the stone paved path, up to the handsome white house. Cas hugged his bucket against his chest, his cheeks where rosy from the cold air and his feet hurt from walking but he didn't complain.

"Are you going to share some of that candy with me?" Gabriel asked as he watched his little brother walk up the front porch.

"No." Cas giggled.  
"No?! Why not? You can't eat all of that by yourself!"  
"Yes I can!"  
"You're crazy, kid."  
"Well...maybe you can have one Jolly Rancher."  
"A Jolly Rancher?! Aw, c'mon, Castiel, Jolly Ranchers are like the cough drops of the candy world. At least give me some licorice or something."

Castiel giggled as Gabriel opened the door to their house to hear sobbing coming from the living room. Gabriel and Cas looked at each other, confused. "Go put your candy in your room, Cas." Gabe told him as he went to go check what was going on in the living room.

He spotted Annas red hair spraying on the couch like fire. She was laying on the sofa face down, crying. "Whats wrong, Anna Banana?"

"Don't call me that, Gabriel. I hate it." She choked.

"What happened?" Gabriel asked again.

"Inias left me to go hang out with Hester."  
"Oh.."  
"Boys are so dumb." She sobbed again.  
"Oh, yes, I know, we're such a pain in the ass. Now how about you run upstairs because Lou and I are having a party here in like five-"

"I knew it." Anna sat up, her eyes were rimmed red and the black she had painted on her nose and cheeks for whiskers where now smeared.

"Anna, you say one word to Mom and Dad and I will make your life a living hell for the rest of your life." He snapped at her.

"Fine. I won't tell. But only if I get to come."

"Deal."

_8:23 P.M_

Teenagers began to pull up in the driveway, and parked in the street. Others simply walked up to the house. Everyone was dressed as monsters and zombies and killers from movies. Lucifer and Gabriel greeted everyone at the door, proud of themselves for pulling such a fantastic party.

Castiel sat on the couch, in his dinosaur costume talking to anyone that would listen. He babbled about his school and his friends and how Gabriel had taken him trick or treating that night. Anna stood in the kitchen drinking cherry pepsi from the can, giggling with cute boys as music played in the background. Everything was going the way Gabriel had planned it. He just needed one more person here to make this night perfect.

Balthazar.

Gabriel walked around impatiently. _'Maybe I shouldn't have invited him...He probably thinks I'm a dork he's not going to come...' _Balthazar had recently moved to Kanasas from England and everyone adored him and his sexy accent. He was new and exotic, he was something Kansas had never seen. Balthazar was like Gabe in some ways, he got his humor from using heavy sarcasm, but he was still funny and witty all the same. He also seemed to enjoy a good prank. He had laughed when the football team stormed out of the locker rooms without any of their clothes on. That had been Gabriels doing of course (The quarter back had been hitting on his sister what else was he to do?). Balthazar was good naturered and had a permanent smirk on his lips that break like he knew something menacing that no one else did. In class he would sit in his chair coolly and mumble something about how this paper was 'absolutely dreadful' or 'pitifully inferior' and 'so inaccurate.' Him saying things like than made the seniors insides squirm for reasons he wasn't even sure why. He just liked to hear Balth talk he supposed.  
When Gabriel first met him he was lost. He was absolutely fond of him. For months he's been plucking up the courage to talk to him, and when Lucifer called him last week to plan the party, he found the perfect opportunity. But now he was wondering if that wasn't such a good idea.

"Gabriel, Gabriel!" Castiel ran up to him eagerly. "Gabriel, I wanna listen to my tapes!"

"Cas you're supposed to be in bed! Didnt Anna tuck you in?"

"No." Castiel grinned and shook his head, playing his cuteness factor. "She's talking to a boy! Play my tapes!"

"Later, buddy." Gabriel told him, rubbing his hair and walking to the kitchen to get a drink. On the way he saw Lucifer kissing some girl against the wall. He rolled his eyes and pushed past the crowd hovering around the kitchen doorway to get to the fridge. Gabriels cauldron when now seeping with mist in the middle of the island. People stood around with cups, pouring Gabriels special punch in them.  
He went to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. His punch had alcohol mixed into it and Gabe didn't want to be buzzed when Bathazar showed up.

He walked to the living room to see people dancing and bobbing for apples and spraying silly sting on each other. Black and orange balloons full of air were being tossed over his head as teenagers threw them at one another. Castiel was now standing on the staircase throwing confetti over his own head and laughing, candy wrappers lay scattered around him.  
"Heads up, Gabriel!" Someone shouted from the banister of the staircase, he looked up to see a water balloon heading straight for his face. He jumped out of the way just in the nic of time before the balloon splattered all over the hardwood flooring. "Watch it, guys!" He shouted up to them, laughing.  
"Sorry, Gabe!"

Gabriel chuckled to himself, taking another swig of water as he returned to the foyer.

He froze.

Water dribbled out of his mouth as he spotted him. Balthazar.  
His blonde hair was spiked and he was dressed in a white suit that complemented his light gray blue eyes; his face and suit were both splattered with fake blood. Gabriel also saw that a plastic kife sat on his shoulder and it looked as though he had been stabbed.

'_Wicked_.' Gabriel thought, smirking to himself. All of his breath seemed to whoosh out of him when he laid eyes on the English lad. He hardly realized that Balthazar was walking towards him. He brushed by his shoulder and smiled. "Hey, Gabriel." He said in his thick English accent. The seventeen year old stared open mouthed at him, mouthing wordlessly until a voice in his head told him; '_say something you asshat,'' _He finally gulped and blurted, "Hi, Balthazar!"

Balthazar was already past him but looked over his shoulder and grinned when the latter finally spoke. Gabriels heart soared into his throat, thumping hard and melting.

"Idiot, idiot, idiot..." He mumbled to himself, slapping his palm to his forehead as he walked the other way.

_9:56 P.M_

Lights were flashing, music was blaring, people were drinking and eating and laughing. It was an all around good time. Castiel had now eaten almost every piece of his candy and was running around in his dinosaur costume with the hood down, chocolate covered his mouth and his messy black hair looked like he stuck his finger in a socket.  
Gabriel wasn't sure were Anna had gone but Lucifer was now being tossed into the air by his college buddies as they all chanted his name.

Gabriel was being pushed around as he tried to make his way back to the kitchen for a drink of his punch. He could hear Castiels tapes blaring from the stereo, it was playing Somewhere Over the Rainbow, he hoped someone would change it soon. When he entered the black cauldron was empty and knocked on the ground. He frowned at it and muttered, "_great..." _to himself. But when he looked up he saw that he wasn't the only one in the room.

Balthazar stood against the counter, sloshing a drink around in his cup. His eyes were glassy and his eyelids were drooping lazily. His white bowtie was cockeyed and his face was as pink as the inside of a watermelon. He was wasted.

"Gab-iel, darl-ig!" He said when he spotted him, holding out his arms, "C'mere an' give me a hug will'yah?!"

"Balthazar," Gabriel smirked. "You're drunk."

"I am nawt." He slurred. "I've only had..." He stopped himself and looked to the top of his head, counting on his fingers how many drinks hes had. He then shook his head and waved it off. "No matt'r, not important. Gabriel, I wanted to tell you dat this is one 'ell of a party!"

"Thanks." Gabriel chuckled, watching his crush sway back and forth drunkinly in his spot.

"Serious'y, mate, this is the best party I've been to..." He hiccuped, walking up to Gabriel and slinging an arm around him. "...best party I've been to in ages! You kno' I'm really diggin' this song, mate...It just...It's just so beautiful you kno', Gabe?" He then began to sing along to Somewhere over the Rainbow in a very lazy and slurred voice.

Gabriel laughed and tried to get Balthazar off of him. "Maybe you should go home, Balthazar..." He told him. Balthazar tightened his grip around the short boy. "C'mon, I can take you home if you want."

"I ain't goin' anywhere, sweet face..." Balthazar hiccuped again, looking into Gabriels caramel eyes as he talked slowly. The seniors heart pounded in his ear drums, the back of his neck growing hotter and hotter. "Nawt without a goodnight kiss."

Gabriels eyes widened when Balthazars face drew closer to his. His heart drummed against his chest and his stomach flipped and he felt like he was going to puke if he didn't piss himself first, adrenaline raced through his veins like horses stampeding through a valley. His brain turned blank and he almost forgot how to breathe.

Balthazars lips pressed against Gabriels. It wasn't sloppy or drunk, but he did smell like beer. Balthazar pressed the short boy against him, holding onto him tightly as he deepened the kiss. Their lips smashed together roughly and Balthazar pressed his tongue against the boys lips, begging for entry as Gabriel struggled against him, he liked Balthazar; he liked Balthazar alot, but he didnt want to kiss him like this.

The English boy tugged him against him harder, trying to grind against him and Gabriel opened his mouth in surprise, Balthazar finally got what he wanted. Gabriel almost gagged at the extra tongue sliding into his mouth, moving around like a drunken snake. Balthazar held on tightly to Gabriels back, his other hand glided down to his belt, trying to unzip his pants. Gabriel tried to tell him no, he tried to tell him to stop but he couldn't say a word with Balthazars tongue down his throat.

"_Gabriel_?!" Came a shout from the entrance to the kitchen.

Balthazar finally parted from Gabriel but he still held him close to his chest. Gabriel turned to see his brother Lucifer staring in shock in the doorway. His eyes flicked back and forth from his brother to Balthazar. His eyes were cold and his jaw clenched. Gabriel could see his brother breathing heavily out of his nose.

Gabriels hair was sticking every which away, his lips were puffy and red and Balthazar had unlooped his belt and unzipped his pants. If Lucifer hadn't come in when he did theres no telling how far Balthazar could have gone. He would have thanked God if he wasn't petrified for his life at the moment.

"Lo-Lou, its not what you think-"

"I'm going to kill you you faggot." Lucifer growled under his breath and Gabriels eyes widened. He finally squeezed out of Balthazars grasp and tumbled out of the kitchen, tripping over his own feet. He could hear the English boys voice laughing, "Now its a party!"

That was the last time he ever saw Balthazar.

_10:12 P.M_

Gabriel dashed out the back door and into his mothers garden, running through the back yard and tearing his jeans as he hopped the fence. All the while he could hear his brother yelling curses and threats at him over the loud music, chasing him out the door. "I'm going to kill you!" Lucifer roared just before Gabriel plopped on his stomach on the grass.

He quickly scrambled to his feet, his knee was throbbing but he ignored it as he dashed down the street, trick or treaters looked at him in puzzlement and yelled at him to watch where he was going. He ignored them.

Gabriel didn't stop running until he came to the graveyard, it was about six blocks away from his house. Sweat dripped down his brow and he doubled over, trying to catch his breath and steady his heart. He felt like he was going to puke. His pants were nearly hanging off of him and he hitched them up, re-looping his belt and zipping up his jeans.

Gabriel has known he was gay ever since sophomore year when Kali Quinn kissed him under the bleachers of a football game and all he could think about was her older brother out there in his football pants and the way he kicked that ball through the field goal. He's thought about coming out to his family numerous times, hes just never knew how.

_'Well, this will do it..' _He thought to himself. He knew Lucifer would react badly, he always knew it. If Mike were home he would have probably bashed his head in with a vase. That wasn't an exaggeration.

Gabe stood up straight and wiped his face with his jacket, taking in another deep breath. The moon was full above him, shining as bright as the sun over the graveyard. He sat himself down on the curb under the streetlight to look at his knee. Crimson stained his jeans but it seemed to have stopped bleeding. It wasn't anything terrible, just a cut. It would probably sting when he cleaned it up but other than that he would live. He sighed, standing up and brushing his palms against his jeans.  
He decided to head home, maybe Lou had finally cooled off. He didn't have any other place to go anyway.

Gabriel walked home slowly, his brain whirring of Balthazar and Lucifer. His brother would no doubt tell their parents. He'd probably tell them to kick Gabe out of the house. But Mr. and Mrs. Novak would never do that. They would most likely be shocked at the news but they would never make Gabriel leave. He knew his parents loved him enough. His mother told him everyday.

Gabriel reached under his shirt and touched his necklace with his finger tips, it made him feel safer. His mother had given it to him when Castiel was born. His mother thought it would be sweet if she had named all of her babies after angels. She said she had Lucifer for the meaning 'light bearer' which she thought was a good thing. Micheal used to tease him all the time when they were younger. Micheal and Lucifer always fought. Being only a year apart they had a lot to fight about. Once they both got the privilege of driving around their fathers car until Lucifer crashed it into a tree and nearly killed himself and Mike when they were fighting over whose turn it was to drive next. They where now going to the same college as well. When Castiel was born Mrs. Novak bought all of her children the same necklaces. Their names on the front and angel wings on the back. Gabriel was the only one who still wore his. It made him feel special, it reminded him of love.

Gabriel smiled to himself as he wondered if Balthazar really genuinely liked him. He hoped it wasn't just the alcohol that made him kiss him; obviously there had to be some part of Balthazar that liked Gaberiel right? Otherwise he wouldn't kiss him like that...

Gabriel stood outside his house when he arrived. It had gone quiet. All the cars were gone, toilet paper hung from the tree and trash scattered the yard. He didn't think it was that late, he couldn't think of a reason why they would all run home.  
Gabriel didn't notice Micheal car parked in the driveway as he walked through the gate and up to his house.

_11:35 P.M_

Gabriel entered the house and was greeted with Five Little Ducks from Castiels tape blasting on the stereo. He looked around, puzzled. The house seemed empty. It was as though all the teenagers had blown up into pieces of trash, silly string and balloons.

Gabriel walked slowly into the foyer. He looked up to see that someone had hung their underwear on the chandelier. He laughed and shook his head. "This was one hell of a party..." He mumbled. He stretched his arms and yawned as he walked towards the staircase to get the clean supplies from the closet on the second floor, but he was put to a halt.

"Is-is someone there?!" Gabriel heard his sister squeak. "Mom? Daddy? are you home?"

"No, its me," Gabriel called, walking towards her voice. "What happened here did someone call..." He stepped into the living room to see Anna huddled in a corner, she was cradling Cas in her arms. The six year old was trembling, his blue eyes wide with terror and his face stained with tears. Anna clung to him tightly, her chin resting on his head. Her eyes were red rimmed and her arm looked bruised, she was also slightly trembling. Gabriel froze and looked at his siblings before saying in all seriousness, "What the hell happened, Anna."

"Micheal," She choked, "I-I called Micheal.."

"Why?" Gabriel walked over to Cas and Anna, crouching down to them and cupping his sisters face.

"Be-because...Some creep was trying to get into my pants and-I-I was scared so I called Micheal and he came home and every one ran and-and Louie hes..."

"Hes crazy..." Castiel whispered. Anna smoothed back her little brothers hair and rocked him back and forth, shushing him.

"They started fighting about the-the party and stuff and then Micheal wanted to know where you were and Lucifer didn't know and the fight just-it just kept getting bigger and-and..."

"Shhh...Anna its okay.." Gabriel rubbed his thumb across his sisters face to rub the tears away as she started to cry.

"I tried to stop them, Gabriel, I really did...But Lucifer just threw me aside and...I thought he was going to go after Castiel.." She hugged him closer and then met her older brothers eyes, whimpering. "He's gonna do it this time, Gabriel...He's gonna kill him..."

As if on que a loud thump and crash came from upstairs and Cas began to cry into Annas shirt, burring his face into her.

"You stay here. Don't move until I come back." Gabriel ordered them.  
"But, Gabri-"  
"Aneal." He said hardly, "I'm serious. Don't move until I come back. Promise me."  
"Stay, Anna," Cas whimpered, "Stay, stay."  
She looked down at her little brother as he tugged on her dress."I promise." She whispered.  
Gabriel stood up and jogged to the staircase. He rested his hand on the banister and walked up the stairs.

_11:40 P.M_

The walk up the stairs seemed so slow.

The music from Castiels tapes all seemed like a dull drone in Gabriels ears. He didn't know what he was expecting when he stepped onto the second floor. But something in his stomach told him it was bad. It looked like there had been some sort of physical fight up here. When ever Micheal and Lucifer got into a physical fight that's when Gabriel knew it was bad. When he was younger he would often hide himself from the bickering. Sometimes he lock himself in his bedroom and in the closet, covering his ears until their yelling went away. Praying that his family would be glued back together by dinner time. Other times he would just run out of the house and peddle on his bicycle until his legs were too tired to pump anymore. But they're all grown up now and Gabriel couldn't hide anymore.

Gabriel saw that tables have been overturned, his mothers favorite vase was broken on the floor and water stained the carpet. His shoe crunched on a plastic cup as he walked towards Lucifers room where he had listened to his brothers bickering loudly moments ago. His heart drummed in his chest as he heard Micheals voice saying "Lucifer. Stop this. Put it down you're making a huge mistake, brother."

Gabriel stood in the doorway, breathing hard. He watched the scene in front of him.

"Thats all I'll ever be right?" Lucifer said thickly like he had been crying, "a huge mistake."  
"I didn't say that." Micheal was sporting a cut on his cheek and scratches on his arms.  
"No, but you have said it. I'm not an idiot, Micheal. You'll always be the good son and I'll always be the rebellious one won't I?" He chuckled darkly, wiping his face with one arm and smearing the black line across his face, "I'll always be the screw up. I'm the one that makes Mom and Dad wonder where they went wrong. I'm sick of being compared to you, Micheal! '_You should study more like Micheal.' 'Why aren't you working on your paper like Micheal is?' 'Why can't you be more like Micheal, Lucifer?' _Why, Lucifer! Why can't you?!" Lucifer swiped his hands across his dresser, sending the contents flying off, skidding across the floor and breaking a picture flame. Micheal just watched him. He stood without an expression crossing his face. As though he was patiently waiting for a bus to arrive and he was merely watching a bird play in a puddle.

"You should learn to control your temper." He said evenly, flicking his blue eyes back to Lucifer.  
"Oh, fuck you." His brother spat. "I have every right to be angry! You always ruin everything don't you?! Why are you so up tight why cant you just have fun once in awhile?"  
"I can't see how your definition of fun is losing our younger brother, Lucifer."  
"Gabriels gay!" The seventeen year olds heart fell slightly, "I didn't lose him I chased him out! I saw him-"

"Guys..." Gabe whimpered and Lucifer snapped a glare to his little brother. His eyes ablaze.

"Gabriel. You need to leave. Right now." Micheal said sternly, not looking at him. "Get out of the house right now. Take Anna and Cas and call Mom and Dad. You need to go."

"Mike-"  
"Gabriel. I said go."

Gabriel looked over to Lucifer, the moon light shone behind him, illuminating his figure as he stood in front of the window. Gabriel could see his fist dripping with dark crimson. He was bleeding.

"Louie, are you-"  
"Dont fucking talk to me gay-wad." Lucifer growled. "You heard Micheal. Get out."

Gabriels heart sank but he didnt leave. He wasn't going to have his brothers kill each other. A glint of something in Lucifers hand caught the moonlight and he noticed that the window was shattered and broken.  
Gabriels caramel eyes grew wide and he looked to his brother who was now sneering at Micheal.

"He was making out with some guy in the kitchen tonight, Micheal. Tell me, do you really want that kind of person in this house?"  
"You what?" Micheal finally turned to the younger Novak.

"That's not what-"  
"So you weren't kissing a man?"  
"No I was but-"  
"So you were kissing another man, but he forced himself on you?"  
"Yes!"  
"And you're not homosexual?"  
"Well..."

Micheals eyes widened. "Gabriel Novak."

"See!" Lucifer hissed, pointing at Gabriel, "See, I told you, Micheal! Do you really want Anna and Castiel growing up around him?"

Micheal slowly turned his head back to the latter, "As much as I would like to agree with you, brother, that is not my decision. It is Mom and Dads."  
"Jesus Christ!" Lucifer growled, "I'm so sick of you, Micheal! More than anything I want you dea-"

"Lucifer." Gabriel whimpered. More than anything he would rather lock himself back inside his closet and cover his ears until this all went away. But he couldn't pull himself away from them. "Don't."

His brother slowly turned his head towards him, his blue eyes frozen. His jaw was twitching slightly. "Go. Away, Gabriel." He responded slowly through his teeth.

"Lucifer look at yourself." Gabriel growled, taking a step between the two in the middle of the room. "Look what you're doing. Just a few hours ago we were having the time of our lives with this party! I was the same person then as I am right now, does this really change anything?"

"You need to leave."  
"I'm not going anywhere until you put that glass down. The fighting needs to stop, Lucifer. You and Micheal are grown up enough-"

"This is it Gabriel," Lucifer laughed insanely, holding out his arms as though presenting himself. "I'm done with hiding it! This is me! I'm crazy!"

"No you're not." Gabriel raised a hand as if that would help him calm down. "You're my brother Lucifer-"

"I'm not being brothers with a homosexual." He cut him off.  
"I know you don't mean that." Gabriel sighed.

"Oh, but I do, baby bro. I do. And I also mean this-" With his free hand he grabbed a beer bottle off the ground and smashed it against Gabriels head. Micheal didn't move. Whether he was angry at Gabriel for being gay or he was too petrified to stand up to his brother Gabe will never know.

Gabriel flinched and pressed his palm against his head, tearing up and biting his tongue. Blood oozed down the side of his head and matted his fine golden hair.

"Gabriel. I told you tonight that I was going to kill you." Lucifer said coolly.

Gabriel gulped hard, blinking away tears of pain, his head throbbing. "I know."

"Tell me you were drunk." Lucifer said. "Tell me you were drunk when you kissed that english fag."

Gabriel lifted his eyes off the ground and looked at his older brother, breathing heavily, his palm felt warm with blood. "I would. But then I'd be lying."

Lucifer closed his eyes and sighed out of his nose, rolling his neck and cracking it before standing up straight again. The moon shone behind him, making him look like a God.

"Dont make me do this, brother."  
"No one makes us do anything." Gabriel managed to say through clenched teeth.

Lucifer slowly swaggered closer to his short little brother, looking down at him with cold venomous eyes. Gabriels heart pounded hard as he gazed up at his big brother, gulping hard to swallow salty tears. He was knew Lucifer would never hurt him.  
Visions of running barefoot down the hall and out the door on cool summer nights flashed before his eyes. Lucifer was nine and Gabriel was five. The older brother would take his hand and lead him down the street to the park where the grass tickled their little feet as they played tag until they were so out of breath they were going to pass out. Then they'd meet their up with their parents and drink grape soda fresh out of the cooler and sit on the picnic blanket, watching the fireworks explode above them and Anna would always curl up in her fathers lap and fall Gabriel was seven and Lucifer was eleven they would take trips to the lake and go fishing off the dock. Sometimes they'd chase Anna with seaweed. Every summer him, Micheal, and Lucifer would hound each other to jump off the big boulder that over looked the water. The two eldest wouldn't do it until they teenagers but Gabriel remembers being ten years old and Lucifer daring him to take off his swim trunks and jump off the boulder into the lake when a boat full of girls went by. Gabriel will never forget the feeling of adrenaline coursing through his veins when he so cockily tossed his swim trunks at his brothers face and ran up the boulder and kicking off. He still remembers the squeals of the girls and the howls laughter from his brother behind him before the water swallowed him. He remembers being twelve on the night of Castiels birth and Lucifer, wielding a brand new drivers license drove them to the hospital in their mothers van. Anna had been over at a friends sleepover and Micheal was working and going to meet the others at the hospital. The whole way there they had the windows down and were belting out Heat of the Moment by Asia at the top of their lungs with the radio cranked up all the way. He remembers being fourteen and asking eighteen year old Lucifer how to talk to girls without pulling their hair first. He even remembers being a two year old toddler and skinning his knee on the sidewalk. He had bawled his eyes out until six year old Lucifer came up to him and took his hand, telling him everything was going to be okay. He had picked him up off the ground and walked him inside into the bathroom where he climbed onto the sink to reach the medicine cabinet. He let Gabriel pick out a band-aid and then stuck it on his knee, kissing it to make it better. "All better!" He had told his little brother. Gabriel had giggled and taken his big brothers finger saying, "My Luci." Lucifer had smiled back and said, "My Gabe."  
Surely Lucifer remembered all of these memories as well. This is why Gabriel believed his brother would do no harm. He knew somewhere inside Lucifer was good.

Lucifer raised the shard of glass and plunged it into Gabriels chest.

"NO!" Micheal screamed, running forward and tackling his brother to the ground. Gabriel stood, trembling, he removed his palm from his head and placed both hands over the wound. He felt the warm blood pouring out. He could feel it raising in his throat. He was losing air and blood. His knees felt weak and he crumbled to the ground, falling on his back.

He tried to catch his breath, his eyes flicking all over the room. He could hear the sound of Micheals fist colliding into Lucifers face, he could hear Lucifers insane laughing.

"THAT WAS OUR BROTHER!" Micheal screamed. "THAT WAS GABRIEL! OUR LITTLE BROTHER, GODDAMNIT!"

Lucifer laughed harder but it also sounded like he was sobbing. "I know!" He cried out. "I know!"

"YOU DICK! I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU!"  
"Do it Micheal! Kill me! I want you to kill me!"

Gabriel sputtered and choked on his own blood, gasping for air. "stop..." He tried to get out. "Stop fighting...stop it..." He tried to reach out his hand towards his brothers to get their attention. "please..."

The clock chimed midnight.

The loud gong from the grandfather cloak erupted through the house.

'_GONG_'  
'_GONG_' "Micheal..."  
'_GONG_' "Luc..Lou..."  
'_GONG_' "Help.."  
'_GONG_' "...Me.."  
'_GONG_' "Stop..."  
'_GONG_' "Please...don't..."  
'_GONG_' A pool of blood flooded from Gabriels head and stained the carpet under him, spreading all around like wildfire. It was thick and dark crimson, Gabriels nose filled with the scent of copper pennies.  
'_GONG_' His hand felt like it now weighed a million pounds. His legs twitched, kicking involuntarily.  
'_GONG_' Micheals screaming was now turning dull, like he was going down a tunnel and Micheal was shouting at him from the other side.  
'_GONG_' Gabriels hand fell limply to his side, his other hand rested on his chest, his fingertips grazing his necklace through his shirt.  
'_GONG_' Gabriels eyes focused on the ceiling, everything around him seemed to grow dark and he welcomed it. He stopped struggling. He stopped breathing. He stopped living.


	5. Chapter 5: Chocolate

**Chapter Five: Chocolate**

"-Anna called the cops. They took Lucifer away. My mom and dad came home...I was a ghost by then. I saw..." Gabriel bit his lip and sighed shakenly, closing his eyes. His face was turned towards his feet and his arms where folded in between his legs, his fingers laced together as though in prayer, "I saw my mother bawl her eyes out over my body...my dad...that was the first time I've ever seen him cry. They didn't want Anna and Cas to see my body but Anna snuck in somehow and..I remember her falling to the ground...She..She was apologizing over and over again...I still don't know what for...The cops had to tear my mother away from me so they could take my body away, but she kept the necklace. She kept it in her drawer but she never took it out to look at it. My parents never talked about me, or my death. I was...I was so scared, kiddo..." His voice trembled again, "I was terrified. When I woke up the last thing I remembered was seeing blood everywhere. No one could hear me or see me. I was all alone...I was alone for so long..."

Gabriel suddenly grew silent. Him and Sam were now sitting on the staircase, looking into the living room where Dean and Cas sat, asleep. The two had been watching a movie but fell asleep before the end and now all that showed was fuzzy salt and pepper snow on the screen.  
The ghost and Sam had found themselves sitting on the stairs somewhere in the middle of Gabriels story. Sam thought maybe Gabriel just wanted to see his little brother again now that he knew who he was.  
When Gabriel told him about Balthazar, Sam felt something white hot in his stomach. He wasn't sure why but he wasn't sure if he liked that Balthazar guy. The idea of Gabriel liking him...It unsettled him. And it wasn't the 'gay thing' Sam was unsettled about, in fact Sam could really care less what the ghost was into. It was more like...he just wanted Gabriel to be his.  
_Shut up Sam, you're being dumb. _He told himself, _you don't own Gabriel._  
_Then why are you bothered by Balthazar so much?_  
_Because you love him, don't you?_  
Sam quickly shook his head and did his best to look everywhere around the room besides the ghost next to him.  
_Don't be ridiculous, Sam._

The ghost didn't seem to notice Sam acting flustered all of a sudden and continued on with his story. "Cas found the necklace in her drawer and he took it. He liked it. He liked having a piece of me." Gabriel smirked a little, still looking at his black Chuck Taylors. Sam turned back to his friend to study him. His shoes were scruffy, and there was a hole in his jeans by his knee that Sam had never noticed before now. He suddenly seemed to realize how real Gabriel was. Gabriel never seemed more like a real person than he did at that moment. He had died wishing for nothing more than to have his family stop fighting. He was sad. He hid it well.

Sam wasn't sure why but he had a very strong urge to hug Gabriel tightly and never let him go. He wanted to hold him and let him cry into his chest until he fell asleep. He wanted to comfort his friend. Maybe he was feeling sorry for Gabriel, maybe he was feeling something else. His heart was still pounding loudly in his chest and pulsing in his ears as he studied the ghost. His mouth was dry and his palms felt a little sweaty as he thought about holding Gabriel close to him. He felt bad for feeling like this when Gabriel was telling this personal and upsetting story, but _god_, if there wasn't anything he wanted to do more than just hold Gabriels hand in his and tell him everything was going to be all right.  
_Stop that, _Sam growled at himself.

"And then...He saw me." A big lopsided smile crossed the ghosts face as he remembered and he looked up to Sam. His eyes twinkled with memories. "You should have seen his face when he saw me, kiddo...a six year old seeing his big brother again...it melted my heart...I got to spend a few more months with him. Then they had to move. My mother couldn't bare to live in the house anymore. It was killing her. They finally found a house good for them and they moved. Castiel didn't want to leave though, he claimed he didn't want to leave _me_. Anna burst into tears and told him that I was dead and that he needed to learn that. That Cas needed to grow up already...she didn't know any better...she had to grow up too quickly for the both of them...before they left Cas left the necklace at the house on purpose. I think what Anna said finally got to him. She called him crazy. Sometimes she'd cry at night...I think she was worried he'd end up like Lucifer. But no...not Cas. He's got too much heart. After he left the necklace I never spoke to anyone since...Until you came along."

Sam smiled at him, trying to lighten the mood. Trying to see Gabriel get back to his usual self. But Gabe didn't smile. Not really.

The two sat in silence. Not looking at one another, but watching their brothers sleep. Sam didn't know what to say.

The rain had died down outside. It was almost midnight.

"So it was your brother who killed you." Sam whispered.

Gabriel nodded.

"Do you know why?"

"Lucifer always had a temper. He was always...different. They said that it was a little bit of the alcohol and a little bit of..well...his personality I guess. He was always trouble." Gabriel sighed. "Micheal and Anna were the only ones who would talk about it. They said that the head doctors said that Lucifer always had it in him, it was only a matter of time."

"Did you ever think about visiting them?" Sam asked quietly.

"I couldn't." Gabriel answered. "I would never want to leave. I needed to let them live their lives without me...Thats how its supposed to be. Its better this way."

Sam silenced, trying to let it all sink in. He looked at Cas and it seemed to all make sense. All those little things that didn't make sense about Cas before now all fit together like puzzle pieces. Except for the trench coat that was still a little different.

"He loves Dean, you know."

"hmm?" Sam looked to Gabriel, puzzled.

"Castiel. He loves your brother." Gabriel was smiling blissfully at his baby brother. They were now technically the same age. Cas lay curled up on the couch, his arm propped up on the arm rest, his head laying in the crook of his arm, a hand rested in his messy black hair. The raise and fall of his pale brown trench coat was peaceful to watch. "Dean loves him too."

"Wait...are you saying-Deans-"

"Yup."

"How do you-"

Gabriel looked at him and raised his eyebrows. "I know these things, kiddo. Trust me. Every time Dean looks at Cas, that's the same way I used to look at Balthazar." He turned back to Dean and Castiel. "Its good that he has Dean though. He needs him. My brother is broken, Sam...Dean knows that. Cas must have told him all about me and Lucifer. If Dean knows that and has stuck with him for this long...he must love him enough to try to fix him..."

Sam watched Gabriel as the ghost stared at the two sleeping teenagers. "Do you still miss him? That guy you had a crush on." He asked. The pit of his stomach bubbled with bone burning acid.

"Balthazar?" Gabe made a face, wrinkling his nose, and shook his head. "Nahh...I grew out of him. I-" He cut himself off and looked to Sam. He smiled warmly, a smile Sam has never seen before. He couldn't help but smile back as Gabriel wrapped an arm around his shoulder and pulled him into a one armed hug. The top of Sams hair brushed against Gabriels cheek. He felt a warmth in his chest as he felt the ghosts lips move by his ear.

"..I don't need him." He said.

They sat like that for a while. Sam tucked under Gabriels arm, and Gabriels chin resting on top of his head. Sams heart was beating against his chest as though it were going to burst through any moment now. He thought for sure the ghost could tell how flustered he was but Gabriel was all too ignorant to it. His own cold heart throbbed for the comfort of Sam but knew that as long as there were Ruby's in this world, he didn't stand a chance. Not to mention the fact that he was a ghost. But this little moment made it all worth it for Gabriel.

* * *

"You know, Sam." Gabriel said when the boy walked into his bedroom a few days later from a shower. Gabriel was laying on the bed, Sam's green notebook propped up in front of him, "I was thinking...How can you write all these scary monster stories and not get scared?"  
Sam chuckled, drying off his hair with a towel. Gabriel tried not to stare long at the damp shaggy hair being flicked back and forth before resting over Sam's eyes. His fingers coiled around the notebook tightly.

"I dunno. I just don't get scared like that I guess. I created the stories why should I be afraid of them?"

"Well, you have to be afraid of something!" Gabriel tossed the notebook down.

"Not really," Sam rolled his shoulder and dug in his dresser for a clean shirt, "I don't get scared that easily."

Gabriel nearly busted his gut laughing so hard.  
"Whats so funny?"  
"You're kidding right? Do you not remember when you nearly pissed yourself when I wore that sheet-"  
"Hey, hey! That doesn't count alright? Anyone would have jumped at that!"  
"Pft, fine. I'll let you have that one, Winchester, but don't say you're not afraid of anything 'cause I know you are."

"Well, what are you afraid of, mister big-shot?" Sam huffed.  
"Me?" The ghost pointed to himself innocently, as though the very idea was insulting, "Why should I be afraid of something? I _do_ the scaring."  
Sam rolled his eyes, "Fine, fine, you don't have to say it you big baby. I've got you all figured out anyways."

"What's that supposed to mean?"  
"Oh, nothing." Sam replied coyly.

Gabriel swooped over the boys shoulder, frowning, "What do you mean you have me all figured out?"  
Sam smirked and tapped the tip of the ghosts pale nose before saying, "Don't you worry about it."

Gabriel didn't enjoy Sam keeping things from him. What did he mean he had him all figured out? Did that mean a bad thing? And what was that cutesy bop on the nose bit all about? The ghost folded his arms over his chest and glared at Sam. And as though the latter could read his mind, he looked over his shoulder at the senior as he made his bed, smiling and saying, "Oh, stop pouting, it's not a bad thing! I just know you. I know you're afraid of being alone, Gabe. That's why you're such an attention whore."  
It was the first time Sam had ever seen Gabriel blush.

"I-I am not!" Gabriel sputtered, "I'm perfectly fine by myself! I spent twelve years in a house all by myself I certainly am not afraid of being alone!"  
"Okay, sure, Gabe." Sam shook his head, "Then how about when I go to the movies tomorrow you just stay home, okay?"

"Okay." Gabriel said loftily. "Fine. I was just thinking about how I need a day for myself. You know it's kind of annoying having you around me all the time. I'll have the whole house to myself. Maybe I'll even go for a walk around the neighborhood. My possibilities are endless, Sammich. And what will you be doing? Wasting another two hours of your little life watching The Phantom Menace for the twelve time in a row while you stuff your bottomless pit of a stomach with greasy popcorn. Who would want to go there anyway their candy is always stale."  
Sam rolled his eyes and went back to making his bed.

"...You're not really going to leave me, right, kiddo?"  
"Of course not, Gabriel."  
"Okay, good." He sighed.

* * *

Sam stood in front of the billboard at school. Push pins massacred it, multicolored papers fought over space, piled over one another. The Art Club begged him to join while the Auto Shop peered behind it. The Debate Team bribed him with free pizza every Friday if he signed up as the Yearbook Committee reminded him to buy his yearbook before they were all gone. Clubs and Teams shouted and pleaded Sam to join, to sign up, to participate and show school spirit, but he wasn't interested in any of those.

He was only interested in the bright pumpkin colored paper that stayed pinned in front of him.

Sam had scanned the paper at least a hundred times. He read the print over and over again, observed the tiny cartoons of the wolf man and Dracula and a smiling jack-o-lantern grinned at him. The text read:

**HALLOWEEN DANCE OCT. 29TH**  
**$5**  
**7:30-11:30**  
**Taking place in the gym there will be snacks, punch, music, dancing, and horror.**  
**Be there if you aren't scared.**

It almost sounded as dumb as it looked. But Sams heart soared as he thought about asking Ruby to the dance. This could be the chance he's been waiting for. He grinned to himself and Gabriel swooped over his shoulder, giving the paper a quick glance and then raising an eyebrow at Sam.

"What are you so happy about? Are you stoned?"

"No." Sam replied. "I'm going to ask Ruby to that dance."

"B.S." Gabriel snorted. "You can hardly hide a boner around her."

Sam rolled his eyes and turned on his heel, leaving to head home. It was the twenty-fourth, he had five days to ask her. Hopefully she wouldn't be asked by anyone else until then, and hopefully she wouldn't say yes to anyone else if they did ask.

"You're not _really_ gonna ask her are you?" Gabriel asked as he caught up to the boy.

"I am. Whats wrong with that?"  
"Oh, nothing, nothing, if you weren't such a nerd."

Sam huffed and ignored the ghost as he continued his walk home. Gabriel hurried after him along the sidewalk, trying to reason with the sixteen year old. "She's not that great, Sam, there are plenty of other girls out there who are as nerdy as you."

"They're not like Ruby." Was his response. "Shes..so.."

"yeah, yeah, I know, she's perfect, beautiful, sweet, blah, blah blah..." Gabriel grumbled, frowning. A white hot dagger stabbed through his brain as they talked about Ruby. An angry green monster growled in his chest and his gut did a flip-flop. He didn't like talking about Ruby. He didn't really like Ruby.

"Why wouldn't she say yes? She seems to like me. At least a little bit."  
"Sam, kiddo, baby, I know she doesn't like you."  
"How are you so sure?"  
"Hell-loo," Gabriel knocked the top of Sams head with his knuckles, "Shes _popular_. Do you even pay attention to high school ranks or do you have your nose so deep in your books you're completely ignorant to it."

"So what if she's popular? Doesn't it matter whats on the inside?"  
"Sam, Sam, Sam..." Gabriel sighed, taking his shoulders and shaking his head, "You poor, poor, soul."

Sam shoved him off as they arrived to their street.  
"You're just jealous of her." He teased, not noticing Gabriels blush.  
"Jealous?" He hissed, "Why would I be jealous of her?"  
"Because she's taking up all my attention. Don't worry, Gabe," He smirked, looking over his shoulder to look at his ghost, green eyes sparkling, "I still think you're prettier."

Gabriel scoffed as he jogged after Sam.

"Listen here, Winchester," Gabriel said, a playful tone in his voice though he looked serious, "One; I know I'm pretty. And two; I'm _not _jealous of Ruby. I just don't think she's right for you is all. You could do better."

"Gabriel," Sam smiled, "I know you're jealous. I've got you all figured out, remember?"

The ghost's face fell, puzzled almost. "You cut that out!" He snapped, "It's fricking creepy!"

Sam just threw his head back and laughed.

When they got home Sam was too distracted by hunger to focus about Ruby anymore which made Gabriel relax. He laid on the couch and nibbled on a crunch bar as Sam turned on the T.V. and shoved a sandwich into his mouth. Some channel was having a special on Halloween; it was showing Halloween classics like Frankenstein, and Dracula, and also some new popular ones like Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street.

"You watch these all the time?" Gabriel asked, kicking his feet up to rest on the arm rest.

Sam shrugged. "Not all the time. I usually like watching the ones with real monsters, not serial killers. I like writing about monsters more than...messed up people."

"People are the real monsters, Sam." Gabriel licked chocolate off his fingers as another girl did another fake scream on the screen.

"I know," Sam sighed. "Monsters I get...people though..." He shook his head as his sentence drifted away and his eyes super-glued to the screen.

"So you are scared of something." Gabriel smirked. "You shy little nerd you."  
"Be quiet."

* * *

"You're not going through with this. Please, tell me you're not going through with this..." Gabriel furrowed his eyebrows as Sam ran a comb through his wet hair.  
He stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom. Gabriel was sitting on the toilet, his head in his hand and his elbow propped up on the sink next to him, praying Sam would get some sense knocked into him before he went through with this. Gabriel thought Sam looked a bit cute dressed up like this, but decided he preferred his normal look of a flannel and jeans or a sweatshirt and his hair shaggy and sloppy like he had just gotten out of bed and ran his fingers through it.

"I'm gonna ask her, Gabriel. Whats so hard to understand?"

The ghost pouted and crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, don't come crying to me when she shoots you down."

Sam spun around and glared at him. "Oh, boy, here comes the bitch face." Gabriel commented under his breath.

"Whats your problem?" Sam frowned. "You're my friend you're supposed to have my back on this, not discourage me. Maybe I do have a chance with her, huh? Maybe she'll say yes."

Gabriel snorted and rolled his eyes, leaning back against the toilet and glaring at the ceiling above him. "You tell me how that goes, kiddo."

Sam had about enough of Gabriels bad attitude. He wasn't even trying to tease him anymore he was just being plain mean. In Sam's eyes at least he was.

Sam huffed and tore the necklace off of his neck, holding it in his fist. "Stop calling me _kiddo_." He said the word as though it was the most offensive name to be called, like it acid was rolling off his tongue. "I'm not a kid. I'm only a year younger than you." Gabriels eyes flicked from the ceiling and shot daggers to Sam. He almost looked a little hurt by his comment and if Sam wasn't so mad at him he might have cared. "And since you seem so bothered by the thought of me asking Ruby to the dance you can just stay home."

Sam slammed the necklace down on the sink and when he looked up Gabriel was gone. He sighed heavily as Dean told him to hurry up and get to school. He grabbed his bag on his way down the stairs, leaving the bathroom door hanging open.

Gabriel watched him leave, glaring at him the entire time. "Silly, Sam," Gabriel shook his head, "If you want something done right you gotta do it yourself..."

"You better hurry, Sammy, you're gonna be late." Dean told him as he bit into a piece of toast and handed his little brother his lunch.

"I know, I'm going, I'm going. Thanks." Sam replied as he grabbed the bag and wrapped his jacket around him. "See you later, Dean."

"Wait, hold up there, brother," Dean stopped him as he opened the front door. Sam slowly turned around and looked up at his brother.  
"Yeah?"

Dean stared quizzically down at him, tapping his pointer finger against his chin. "What'd you brush your hair for?"

"n-nothing...I-I just felt like brushing it.." The back of Sams neck felt hot as he shrugged. Dean smirked, his green eyes twinkled.

"Whats her name?"

Sam smiled at his feet. "Ruby..."

"Ahhh...Cas said something about you making goo-goo eyes at her. Shes the one with black hair right?"  
"What? Its not _that _obvious is it?!" Sam gasped, his face now turning red. Dean laughed and shook his head.  
"Never mind, Sammy, forget about it." He raised his hand to tussle Sams hair but he stopped himself. He rested his hand onto Sams shoulder and patted it, smiling. "Go get'em, tiger."

Sam grinned up at him and turned to leave out the door. "Bye, Dean!" He called, trotting off the porch steps as his brother watched him leave from the screen door. He waved after him, still smiling. Dean frowned for a moment and muttered to himself, "Is that kid gettin' taller than me?"

Sam felt an odd empty feeling as he walked to school by himself. He felt a twinge of guilt for yelling at Gabriel but the ghost was being rude and unreasonable. Gabriel needed attention to practically live so maybe some alone time at home will teach him that he was being an asshat. He was lucky not to run into Azazel and Alistair today, perhaps today would be his lucky day, with no Gabriel here to wreck havoc.

He wasn't about to admit it but he actually kind of missed that goofball. He was even starting to have second thoughts on asking Ruby to the dance as he walked down the lonely sidewalk. But he merely rolled it off his shoulder when he arrived at the school. He stopped at the bathroom to look at his hair again. He ran his hand through it and let out a shaky breath to calm his nerves. He wanted to ask her before first hour started. He looked down at his watch, he had five minutes.

He sucked in a deep breath with his stomach and swaggered out of the bathroom, peering around the clusters of students. It didn't take long to spot her raven-black hair. She stood off to the corner with a group of friends, smiling and laughing. Sams heart hammered`against his rib cage as he walked towards her, his hands felt clammy as he clenched them into fists, his stomach doing summer salts inside of him.

He reached the group of teenage girls and they all quieted when Sam showed up, looking at him. He gulped and stuttered, "H-hi...Ruby..." She turned around at the sound of her name and flashed a smile at Sam when she saw him.

"Hey, Sam," She responded, cheerfully. "Whats up? We don't have a surprise quiz today do we?"

"N-No...I..I just wanted to-um..ask you something.." He could feel his face turning red, his shirt suddenly felt like it was suffocating him and he pulled away the collar with his finger, his brain telling him to remember to breathe.

"What do you wanna ask me?" Ruby asked kindly, hugging her books to her chest. She was wearing a white dress and a jeans jacket. Her hair looked like black velvet as it fell over her shoulders, her round blue eyes batting her long lashes at him.

"I-I was wondering-if..um..." Sams tongue suddenly felt very heavy and sticky, his mouth was very dry and his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth like peanut butter. The words were getting caught in his throat and he couldn't seem to get them out. How could he possibly focus when she was standing there, looking perfectly perfect?

Sam sucked in another deep breath, closing his eyes and saying finally, "Ruby, Do you want to go-" Sams eyes opened and he saw a flicker of something brown before something collided onto Rubys head, exploding and engulfing Ruby in a brown slime. Sams face was splattered and her friends shrieked, jumping away and gasping when they looked back to poor Ruby. Her white dress was now stained brown, her eyes were wide and petrified. Her lip trembled as she looked down at herself and dropped her books to the floor.

The hall was silent. Whispers began to scatter through the crowd, students brought their heads close together and pointed to Ruby and Sam who stood frozen to the spot. Rubys eyes darted back to meet Sams face and Sam opened his mouth to say something but Rubys blue eyes were now lit with anger. Her face was a beat scarlet and without a word she darted off down the hallway. Students in the crowd cleared a path for her as she ran, her friends soon ran off after her, calling her name, leaving Sam to stand on the tile floor, surrounded by the brown ick.

He glared down at the mess and started to wonder who on earth would do such a thing. It couldn't have been Zachariah or Azazel or Alistar, they weren't smart enough to pull off something like this. Besides, there wasn't even anything above them, they would have had to been floating to get up there. _Floating._

_No, _Sam thought,_ it couldn't be.._

Sam looked down at the warm brown slime in his hands. He was almost too afraid to bring it up to his nose and take a whif but he had to support his hypothesis. It smelled sweet. He popped a finger in his mouth and wrapped his tongue around it to taste. The sweet liquid exploded in his mouth with a mouth watering taste only melted chocolate could make you crave. Sam drew out his now pink finger and clicked his tongue, eyebrows furrowed as he sighed hard out of his nose. His hypothesis had been proven correct.

_Gabriel._


	6. Chapter 6: The Trickster

**Chapter Six: The Trickster**

_(I'm terribly sorry this chapter is so short! I'll try to make it up in chapter seven okay? Enjoy my lovelies :3)) _

Ruby, her friends, and Sam were all called down to the office.  
As they all waited to be called in by the principal the nurse stopped in to hand out towels so the students could at least clean themselves up a little bit. Ruby was called inside first and her friends all huddled together on the bench to chatter about the incident that had taken place only moments ago. Sam slumped in the chair and twiddled his thumbs, thinking about what body part he was going rip off of Gabriel first.

The door didn't open again until Ruby's mother showed up to take her home. The office went silent when Ruby appeared. Her face looked as though she had smeared tanning lotion all over it and hadn't quite rubbed it in correctly. Sam met her eyes but they were not kind. She glared at him as though this was his fault. Like he had planned it. Sam clenched his fists tightly, drawing his gaze away from Ruby. _Gabriel I'm going to kill you. _He growled to himself.  
The principal and Mrs. Johnson exchanged a few words before Ruby was ushered out. "The poor girl.." The nurse tisked as they left.  
Her friends were then interviewed next. They didn't get hit with the chocolate as bad as Sam and Ruby, it only stained spots of their pants and shoes, and maybe a spot or two on their jackets or sleeves, but they all insisted on going home as well.

The principal, Ms. Naomi, called Sam in. He got up off the chair and walked into her office grumpily. He just wanted to go home. He wanted to yell at Gabriel. He wanted to take a shower and get all this chocolate off of him.

Ms. Naomi sat behind her desk, sitting up very straight on her plush chair. Her brown hair was tied up in a tight bun on top of her head, her glasses pushed down her pointed nose, her green catlike eyes pierced Sams skull. Her lips were stained red with lipstick and her purple suit said authority. Her hands were folded neatly in front of her, her long nails were painted lavender and they looked like claws.

Sam had a sudden inspiration to write.

"Mr. Winchester," She said in a tight, stern, voice. "Will you tell me what exactly happened in the hallway this morning?"

Sam sighed, "I walked up to Ruby and her group of friends to ask Ruby a question, and then next thing I knew Ruby and I were covered with this...melted chocolate stuff."

Ms. Naomi nodded. "And what was it you were going to ask Miss Johnson?"

Sams face turned red under the melted chocolate smeared on his face. "I-uh..was going to ask her to the dance..."

Ms. Naomi didn't react or show any sign of emotion. She looked at her notebook and scribbled down something with her blue pen. Sams eyes watched her scratch the words down and then shot back up to her face when she spoke. "Do you recall seeing anyone who was on the scene who could have done this?"

"No." Sam shook his head, chocolate splattered from his hair and onto the principals desk. She frowned down at the little specks of green now sticking to her stapler and handsomely polished mahogany table. "oh..um..Sorry..." Sams hazel eyes grew wide and he gulped.

"That's...quite all right, Mr. Winchester..." She said slowly, flicking the specks away. "how exactly did you know this was chocolate, again?"  
"I tasted it."  
"...All right then...I think its best if you..go home and get yourself cleaned up. Thank you. We called your brother Dean. He should be here any moment to come pick you up."

Sam nodded and stood up from his chair, he walked out the door, tracking brown foot prints behind him.

He impatiently waited for Dean to take him home. He needed to see Gabriel ASAP. His brain was buzzing with all the things he wanted to say to the ghost. He didn't know how he was going to forgive him this time_. He better have a good reason for pulling this stunt, _Sam thought. Although he couldn't think of anything the ghost could say that would make Sam convinced that he had good intentions when he dumped a bucket full of melted chocolate on Ruby and Sam.

"Sam?" Dean hurried into the office and when he spotted his brother he struggled to hide a laugh, "Oh, god...Sammy-"  
"Don't say a word." Sam said, getting up and walking past him out the door. His shoes squishing with chocolate as he walked. Dean did his best to hide his snickering.

On the ride home Dean tried asking his brother if he has any idea who had pulled the prank. Sam just lied, glaring out the window and said that he didn't know. Dean asked him how asking the girl to the dance went. Sam didn't respond.

As soon as the brothers opened the front door they were greeted with "_DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN WE USED TO DANCE AND INCIDENCE AROSE FROM CIRCUMSTANCE_-" Blaring from upstairs. Sam knew the tune all too well.  
"Did you leave the radio on?" Dean asked.  
"Um, yeah, I must have." Sam said, not looking at his brother but glaring at the stairs.  
"Well, go get cleaned up. Do you mind staying home by yourself for a while? Uncle Bobby didn't want me gone long 'cause I was right in the middle of fixing some guys motor."  
"Yeah, I'll be fine."

"All right. See you for dinner, buddy."  
"Bye." Sam replied another word he hurried up the stairs before Dean was even gone.

The sound of the song pissed him off even more with every beat it made as he stormed up the steps and threw open his door shouting, "GABRIEL!" but the only response was the song. His stereo was resting on his open windowsill. The bedroom looked empty.

Sam growled under his breath as he spun on his heel and headed to the bathroom where the necklace sat on the end of the sink exactly where he had left it. He swiped it off the sink and practically threw it over his head. As soon as he touched the dog tag his ears where swimming with Gabriels singing. As he stormed back down the hall he could hear him singing at the top of his lungs; "_It was the heat of the moment, telling me what your heart meant-"_

_"Gabriel!"_ Sam roared when he arrived back into the bedroom. The ghost laid on Sams bed, his feet resting on the wall, tapping along to the beat. Strands of cherry Twizzlers were wrapped in his fist as he sang, _"It was the heat of the moment, showed in your eyes-"_

_"Gabriel!" _Sam shouted again and this time the ghost seemed to realize he was there. He turned his head and a grin slowly crossed his face.

"Well, well, well, look whos home early."

"Gabriel what the hell is wrong with you." Sam growled through clenched teeth, "What the hell were you _thinking_."

"What are you talking about?" Gabriel sat up. "Why are you so...brown? Did you fall in mud or something?"  
"Don't play innocent, Gabe, I know it was you."  
"I have no idea what you're talking about."  
"Then how come all this brown goo tastes exactly like melted chocolate? Know anyone else with a sweet tooth?"

"Aw!" Gabriel smiled and placed his hands on his chest over his heart, pretending to blush. "You _do _care!"

"This _isn't _funny, Gabriel. Ruby hates me! She thinks I did this!"The ghost rolled his shoulders and took a bite of his licorice. "And will you _stop eating candy_! Ghosts don't eat candy!"

"Then _why_ is it in my mouth?" Gabriel retorted.

"ARGH!" Sam roared, throwing up his hands. "_You. Are. IMPOSSIBLE!_ What is it with you lately?! Whenever I want to talk about Ruby you always ignore me! Why?! Has she ever done anything to make you hate her? She doesn't even know you, Gabriel! You're a ghost! She can't even see you! She could have said yes, Gabriel! Why are you so bent on keeping her away from me?! I thought you were my friend!"

The song suddenly screeched to a stop. The room pulled into silence. Neither of them spoke for quite some time until Gabriel said quietly,

"I am your friend."

"Then why don't you act like it." Sam replied.

Without another word to each other, Sam grabbed fresh clothes and hurried to the bathroom to take a shower. Abandoning Gabriel in the quiet room.

When Sam got out of the shower he was still steamed at Gabriel for what he did but he thought he might as well try to make up. Maybe the candy thing was a little harsh.

Sam pushed the bedroom door open to see the ghost sitting sadly on the windowsill, picking at the wall. "Hi, Sam." He said, plainly. Hearing him say that felt weird to Sams ears. He was used to be called kiddo...he remembered the spat from this morning and his heart sank a little in his stomach.

"Gabriel.." Sam sighed. "I'm sorry for yelling at you."

Gabriel snorted and didn't make a comment. Sam frowned. "I'm trying to apologize asshat. I am sorry for yelling at you..But I'm still upset with you for what you did to Ruby."

"I don't know what you see in her." Gabriel mumbled. "She just uses you."

The back of Sams neck felt hot and he clenched his fists. "Why do you care, Gabriel? I'm not asking you to like her! I don't know why you're acting so childish! Grow up why don't you."

Gabriel jumped down from the window and up to the sixteen year old.  
"Listen, Sam, I'm saying this 'cause you're my friends and I care about you; I know I'm being a hypocrite right now but its not necessarily healthy to be in love with someone you have no chance with, and has no interest in you in _that _way."  
"What do you mean you're a hypocrite?! What are you talking about? Balthazar liked you you have no idea-"  
"I'm not talking about Balthazar."

"What?"

Gabriel wouldn't look Sam in the eyes. He glared at the floor before closing his eyes and sighing. It felt like hours before he spoke again.

"I'm not talking about Balthazar," Gabriel repeated sternly, "I was-I was talking about you, Sam. I'm a hypocrite because I know I shouldn't like you but I do anyways. I know you think I'm annoying, and I'm an attention whore, and that I need to grow up, but you know what I do want your attention. Because I think you're perfect, Sam. I think you're interesting. You're smart, and kind, and funny...You're everything I want to be. You were right, I am jealous, Sam. I'm jealous that you like Ruby so much even though she shows no interest in you at all. I'm jealous she's the one who makes your heart pound, the one who makes you blush, and makes you feel sweaty. Shes the one who makes your stomach upset, shes the one you fantasist about in the shower _not me._ And it pisses me off. _I _want to be the one who makes you feel that way." He choked, tears stinging his eyes. "I want it to be me. I want you to feel the same way I feel about you. Because I like you. I don't like Ruby because she's missing out on how great a guy you are, Sam. She treats you like dirt and you don't need that. And you know what, it really sucks that I like you because you're alive and I'm dead and there's no way that's going to change anytime soon."

Sam stood frozen, unblinking. His heart hammered in his chest as Gabriel confessed this secret to him. He had never thought of it as a possibility before...Gabriel liked _him. Gabriel liked him. _

"I...I don't know what to say..." Sam muttered.  
"yeah, well you don't have to say anything you ignorant dick." Gabriel turned his back on him and moped towards the bed. "Go ahead. Ask Ruby to the dance see if I give a shit. I'll leave you alone. If that's what you want."

"Gabriel..." Sam sighed and reached a hand towards him to grab his jacket. His hand only phased through. His heart sank into his stomach and he took a step back, staring at his palm with wide eyes. He had always been able to touch and feel Gabriel like he was alive, he had always felt warm and whole. But now, he was like air. He was freezing cold, Sams fingers felt like they had just been dipped in a frozen lake in Alaska. His hand actually felt numb from the touch. His heart hammered hard in his gut and he looked back up to the back of Gabriels head. "I'm...I'm sorry..."

Gabriel didn't say anything, he didn't look at him. He was standing very straight and his fists were clenched tight. "Yeah," He said tightly, Sam could practically hear the small sad smile in his voice, "Me too."

Sam opened his mouth to say something more but Gabriel suddenly vanished without warning. "Gabriel?!" He gasped, running to the spot his ghost had just been standing in moments before. "Gabriel! Gabriel wait! Come back, please!" He could feel tears welling up in his eyes and he drew in a shaky breath. "Come back..." He whispered.

* * *

Sam sat on his windowsill for the rest of the day, gazing outside moodily as he waited for some sign of Gabriel returning. He played with the dog tag necklace around his neck, toying with it between his fingers. His heart ached for Gabriels company. For the few hours Gabriel had been missing Sam had done a lot of thinking. He seemed to realize all those funny feelings that had been squirming in the pit of his stomach for the past few weeks were all because of Gabriel. He wasn't even thinking about Ruby anymore. Gabe was right, he and Ruby would never had happened. He at least had some kind of chance with Gabriel but that was all blown out the window. He kept replaying the words Gabriel had said to him in his brain.  
"_I think you're perfect, Sam."_  
_"I want you to feel the same way-"_  
_"I like you._"  
"_She's missing out..."_  
_You really are an idiot Sam Winchester_, he said to himself.  
Sam sighed heavily and pressed his forehead against the cold window. He wished the ghost would have said something sooner. Then maybe they wouldn't be in this big mess and Gabriel would still be here. Sam didn't realize how lonely and empty his bedroom was without the company of his ghost. The room was too big for one person to occupy it now. Sam couldn't stand the silence anymore and flicked on the radio next to him. His ears were then filled with the voice of some radio DJ talking to a caller. He closed his eyes as he resumed his place pressed against the window. The pit of his stomach still sank with numb loneliness.

"Sam, I'm home!" Dean called from downstairs. "You want somethin' to eat?"  
"No." Sam called back. "I'm not hungry."  
"...All right."

Sam went back to listening to the radio. The DJ was now off the phone with the caller and was making an important announcement apparently.  
"_This just in,"_ said the DJ, "the mental patient escapee that had been missing since early this morning has just been found. Police found him just a town away from the reported that he had armed himself with a knife and attempted to attack one of the officers. He was shot six times. You can all rest easy tonight, Kansas. Now lets get back to the music-" Goodbye Stanger by Supertramp began to play not long after that.  
When Sam opened his eyes again he realized how dark it was. He didn't think he had fallen asleep but he must have if it was this late already. He rubbed his eyes and yawned, wondering if maybe Dean had made him some dinner anyway and had set it aside for him when he finally felt like eating. He was about to climb off the windowsill and go downstairs when he heard the front door slam open. He jumped slightly.

"DEAN!" Castiels voice cried from downstairs. "DE-EAN!"

Sam turned towards his bedroom door and looked at it in confusion, as though it had made the screams itself. Something crashed downstairs, it was followed by Deans yelling; "Cas?! What the hell-Shit! Cas! What are you doing?! Cas?!"

Sam, panicked now, dashed downstairs, forgetting about Gabriel for a moment. He found Dean and Cas in the living room, the lamp on the side table was laying sideways and his mom and dads old picture frame was knocked to the floor, the glass shattered. Cas was kneeling on the hardwood floor, trying to collect the pieces of glass in his hands. His fingers and palm were sliced with tiny cuts and oozing blood. "I'm sorry..." He was muttering, "I didn't mean to, I'm sorry...It's all my fault-my fault, I'm sorry..." Dean was watching him from the kitchen doorway, standing with his arms at his sides and his face pasty, but his expression was serious.

He walked slowly over to Cas and crouched behind him, wrapping his arms around him and cupping his hands in his to stop him from picking up any more shards. He turned over Castiels hands to make him dump the glass back on the floor with tiny little clinks. "_shhhh..."_ Dean said softly, his face close to Cas's ear. "It's okay, Cas...It's just a picture frame."

"Dean..." Sam called quietly from the bottom step of the stairs, his hand gripping the railing.

"It's okay, Sammy." His brother said without looking at him. "Everythings okay."

"No, Dean..." Cas stood up and pivoted around to look down at him. "Dean you don't know...you don't know..." Cas looked like he was trying to say something but he couldn't spit it out.

Dean got to his feet and gripped his friends arms, pinning them to his sides. "Cas. What happened." He demanded in a rough but calm voice. "Tell me."

Cas's bottom lip quivered and his bright blue eyes turned watery and red rimmed. He shook his head slowly, closing his eyes tightly, tears escaping down his cheeks.

"Cas..." Deans voice turned softer, "Cas, buddy, what's wrong..." He brushed back Castiels dark hair lovingly. "C'mon, dude...tell me.."

Cas sucked in a quivering breath and sniffed. "Hes-hes dead...Lucifer...my-my brother-hes dead, Dean...He's dead..."

"_What?"_ Sam and Dean said at the same time, but Dean hardly noticed. He wrapped his arms around his friend, holding him tightly, and said, "Cas, I'm so sorry...I'm so, so, sorry..." Sam swore he heard his brother call his friend 'baby' but he ignored it, running a hand through his hair. He felt shakey and sick.

"How did he-? Did they execute him like they were planning?"

"No-No-" Cas choked on his sobs. "He was making a run for it-he was trying to escape-they-they shot him six times, Dean..._six." _Cas buried his face into his friends leather jacket, his fingers curling around the opening. His trench coat looked dirty, blood from his hands had smeared on it. His knees were cut from the glass and crimson leaked through his jeans. "_Why_?" He cried, "Why did they have to shoot him so many times?"

Dean pressed his cheek against the seventeen year old and swayed back and forth. "I don't know, baby..." He whispered.

Sams mind was blank as he turned to go upstairs. He needed to tell Gabriel, that was the only thing he could think of. Gabriel. He should tell Gabriel.

But when he pushed open the door, the room was empty. Gabriel was gone. He wasn't where he was supposed to be. He wasn't with Sam. The boy felt a sinking feeling inside him as he came to this realization. His friend had left.

He sank into his mattress, looking at his quiet room, staring at the wall. The tears returning to his eyes. He reached for the dog tag necklace and held it in his palm. "Please..." He whispered, "Come back, Gabriel..." He had never felt so alone in his life. His room was the quietest it's been in a month. He always had Gabriel around, he had Gabriel to talk to, to make noise. He didn't like the silence. The radio still played dully in the background.

He felt like he had taken advantage of the ghost, he was his best friend. He realized he had so many things to still tell him about. He didn't even want to ask Ruby to the dance anymore, he wasn't even sure if he liked her anymore. All he cared about was his best friend. He needed him here, he needed him to tell his secrets to, to share his stories with.

"_I need you, Gabriel."_

* * *

It was Halloween now and Gabriel still hadn't returned. Sam hand't talked to Dean for days, he hardly ate anything, he hardly slept, which resulted in him falling asleep in class and drooling on his school work. He found himself staring out of the windowsill late at night waiting for Gabriels return. His heart was heavy with guilt and sadness. He just wanted his ghost back. Dean tried his best to cheer up his little brother by reminding him of their monster movie fest on Halloween and how Castiel was going to join them this year. Sam would plaster a fake smile on his face and say "I can't wait."

Halloween night Sam sat up in his room looking out his window as usual. The radio was playing but he wasn't listening. His arms were folded on the windowsill and his chin rested in them. He could see all the children on the sidewalk below dressed in their costumes and swinging their bags full of candy. He could hear their dull voices and their shrieks and giggles.  
Downstairs Dean was in the kitchen making caramel popcorn and Cas was handing out candy to kids. Cas didn't say any more about his brothers death. He didn't go to school the following day to mourn with his family most likely and Dean had mentioned something about his family visiting and him going to a funeral next weekend. But that was all any one had said. Sam wondered if Gabriel knew about Lucifers death.

"Sam! Lets go! We're starting the movie soon!" Dean yelled up the stairs, interrupting Sams thoughts. The junior pealed himself away from the window and trotted down the stairs to join his brother and his friend. He sat next to Castiel on the couch and Dean sat between them, setting the bowl of caramel corn on the coffee table in front of them.

"All right," Dean grinned and rubbed his hands together, "Now Halloween can really get started. Right, Sammy?"

Sam tried to smile and said, "Yeah. Awesome."

He turned towards the television as The Wolf man played, one of Sams favorite classics. But he couldn't enjoy it, a week before he had been telling Gabriel all about this little movie fest he and his brother had every year. He had told him about his favorite movies and how he couldn't wait to show him the classics. Gabriel said he wasn't sure if he would dig black and white movies but said if Sam liked them then he'd try them.

Sams heart panged in his chest. He really had taken Gabriel for granted hadn't he? He wished he could do it all over again. He wished he had the nerve to tell Gabriel everything he was thinking for the past four days. But it looked like as of now he would never get to tell Gabriel anything again.


	7. Chapter 7: Home Sweet Home

**Chapter Seven: Home.**

"...Gabriel?"  
Sam was standing in a dark empty room with only one window. An eye blinding light came from the window, lighting up a corner of the room where another figure stood. Sam had to shield his eyes from the bright light but he could make out that the figure had its back facing him. He could see a dark green jacket and golden blonde duckling curly q's on the nape of the figures neck. He blinked as a smile crossed his face. "Gabriel!" But the ghost didn't seem to hear him. "Gabriel! Gabriel it's me, Sam!" Still no response. Sam laughed, thinking maybe the ghost was joking with him. He hurriedly ran over to the other side of the room, the light was warm on Sams face. He grabbed Gabriel from behind, pulling him into a hug, his arms wrapped tightly around his chest. Sam buried his face in the back of his jacket. "Gabriel...I'm so glad you're back," He said softly, "Don't ever leave again...Please...It's so good to-" Gabriel began shifting in his arms and Sam looked up only to notice that Gabriel wasn't shifting at all, but turning into tiny blue wisps of air and disappearing right before his eyes all over again. "No!" Sam grasped for the wisps as the light suddenly began to fade and the room turned colder. "No! No you can't leave again!" The tiny wisps danced all around Sam's head as though teasing him. They all slipped between his fingers like jello and sank into the floor below him. Sam managed to clasp one as he sank to his knees and held it to his chest, feeling the stinging of tears in the corners of his eyes. He held on tight to the wisp, not wanting to let go of it. But when he held out his palm in front of him, the wisp had gone. The room was cold and dark. Sam was left alone again.

Sam jumped awake, his eyes popping open and he sat up to look around, trying to familiarize his surroundings. He was still in the living room. He felt a quilt wrapped around him as though someone had tucked him in and the T.V. was off. He also spotted an empty bowl of caramel corn on the coffee table. Dean and Castiel were no were in sight. Sam pressed the ankle of his palm against his sleepy eyelid and fell back down on the couch cushions. He sighed to himself, _It was just a dream..._Although he still felt shaky from it.

He tried to remember exactly at what point he had fallen asleep at. He vividly remembered finishing Dracula but couldn't quite recall if he had seen the ending of Creature From The Black Lagoon. He had seen it so many times he couldn't figure out if he had watched the ending or if he was just remembering from last year when they watched it. He definitely remembered Castiel tilting his head to the side and asking if lightening was actually a scientific possibility of creating human life while they watched Frankenstein. He smiled to himself and shook his head, checking his wristwatch.  
1:15.  
He had missed it. About an hour ago marked Gabriels thirteenth anniversary of his death. Sam sort of felt an ugly hole in his stomach when he realized this. He wished Gabriel could have spent it here. He wished he could have found out what exactly Gabriel did on this day every year when it passed. He wished he could have been here when Cas watched Frankenstein, he would have gotten a kick out of it.

He sort of wished he could talk to Dean or even Castiel about his lovesick-ness. If he could just talk to Dean and explain everything maybe he'd feel better. But there was no way in hell Dean would ever believe that his little brother was having love problems with his best friends older brother who had died when Sam was five. It was weird to think about; Gabriel was technically thirteen years older than him. _Gross, _Sam wrinkled his nose and giggled at the thought. Gabriel couldn't be that old. Gabriel was only seventeen and it was just easier to think of him that way.  
_How weird is it that you would have never met Gabe if he wasn't dead..._  
This was weirder to think about than the age thing. If Gabriel were alive he would have graduated college by now...maybe even married. And where would Sam be? Living a very un-ghosty and boring life perhaps. All this thinking was going to kill him one day.

As Sam nestled himself back into a ball on the couch he wondered for about the thousandth time in the past four days what Gabriel was doing at this moment, and where he was. Sam closed his eyes, trying to go to sleep and trying to not think about it.

* * *

Gabriels back lay on the dusty floor of his bedroom. His legs were laying on his bed with one foot tucked under the other as he stared at the spider webbed ceiling and dug into a pillowcase full of candy with one hand while his left arm was tucked under his head as a pillow. Candy wrappers were littered all around him. He had scored the pillowcase from a sixth grader who had come into the house with her friend when her older brother dared them to go inside. Gabriel scared them off by rolling one of Castiels old Slinky's that had been lost and forgotten long ago tumbling down the steps.  
Gabriel was used to kids coming into his house on Halloween but this was the first time one of them had actually left their candy.  
A week ago though, he would have thought he would be spending this day differently. He would be spending it with Sam watching monster movies or carving pumpkins or making popcorn or even trick or treating, anything to keep his mind away from his death. But no, it was the same as every year. Spending it by himself up in his room and pranking any kid who was brave enough to walk inside. This year though, he had candy, which he tried to tell himself made everything a little better. He tried to think of what he would be doing if he were alive right now. Whatever he would be doing it wouldn't involve Sam Winchester. He most likely would have never met Sam. He wondered if he would have been better off that way.

He pulled out a milky way bar and tore open the wrapper, but didn't feel like eating it. He let his arm collapse over his stomach as he closed his eyes and sighed hard out of his nose. He couldn't help but have his mind dift to Sam. For the past four days all he could think about was Sam. The whole time he argued back and forth with himself about whether he should go back. He didn't know which was worse, going back to the Winchesters to live with a boy who could never love him, or staying in the Oak house by himself wondering what Sam would say if he returned. Either way he felt like he would end up depressed.  
He tried asking himself what exactly made Sam so special. He never felt like this about any of his other crushes, why Sam? But this only made him list all the things he liked about Sam and this made his heart hurt.  
He wouldn't admit that he cried about it but he did. After he first left the Winchesters he collapsed on his old dusty bed and cried until his head hurt. He did his best to keep the tears at bay but his heart was still heavy.

His candy craving overcame his sadness and he took a bite of the milky way, chewing slowly. He hated staying in this house. It was so lonely and quiet.  
The front door suddenly creaked open slowly, interrupting Gabriels thoughts. He moaned loudly, annoyed, "Don't you kids have anything better to do on Halloween, _honestly!"_ He whined to the house because the humans couldn't hear him of course. "Go home why don't you! Isn't it like-midnight? Shouldn't you be in bed! Trick or treat is over!" Heavy footsteps were crossing the hallway but they seemed to pause when Gabriel spoke. They continued when he stopped. "Can't you just leave? I just want a quiet night by myself to eat my candy and wallow in my self pity and relive my death, is that too much to ask!" only the footsteps answered, "_Apparently_! Geez! Don't make me come out there, punk! I'll bring out my squirt gun and leftover firecrackers on you!" The footsteps seemed to had vanished. Gabriel listened but no noise answered him. Perhaps the visitors had gotten bored and decided to leave.

"Squirt gun?" Said a deep, slow, voice, "Really, Gabriel? I thought I would have taught you better than that."

Gabriel jumped and flopped over on his stomach looking at his doorway. There stood a man in his doorway. He was dressed all in white, even his shoes. He had both of his arms hiding behind his back and his blue eyes looked very tired. Like he hadn't slept in years. Dark circles under his eyelids seemed to prove that. His hair was now a whiter blonde but still was spiked in a youthly fashion. He was older. Much older than Gabriel remembered. But even through the years his eyes never lost that glint to them. Because of this, Gabriel knew him anywhere.  
"L-Lucifer..." He gasped, sitting on his knees now. His back was pressed against the bed.

"The one and only." Lucifer smiled, spreading out his arms to present himself.

"Y-you're-?"  
"Unfortunately. Killed in my prime."  
"But...You're so _old_!" Gabriel wrinkled his nose.

Lucifers face fell. "I wish I could say the same to you, brother. But it seems as though you haven't aged a day. Physically...or mentally."

"Hey!" He barked, "whats that supposed to mean?"  
His brother chuckled to himself and shook his head, "Oh, Gabriel...it's good to know after years of staying couped up like this you still have the brain of a ten year old."

Gabriel frowned and scrambled to his feet, "What are you doing here anyway, Lucifer? Whats the big idea? Barging in here thinking you own the place."

"This is my house too, Gabriel."  
"We-Well, yeah...But it was my house first! I was a ghost first so it's my house now and you-you can just go haunt...where ever it is you were all right? Go on!"  
"Why do you want me gone so bad?" Lucifer cooed, inching closer to his litter brother, "Still scared of me?"

His heart was hammering in his chest but Gabriel showed no fear. "No." He said.

"Aw, Gabriel," Lucifer pretended to pout, slinging an arm around his brother. Making Gabriel highly uncomfortable, "I thought you would have liked living together."

"And why," Gabriel shrugged away, "On earth would you think that? I'm not sure if you remember, but the last time we were together, Lou, we didn't exactly end on good terms."

Lucifer merely threw his head back and laughed. "Come now, Gabe, you're not still upset about that are you?"  
"About being dead? Oh, yeah. I think I'm still a bit upset." Gabriel was backing away towards the doorway, trying to get away from his brother.

"Oh, come on!" The older brother rolled his head on his shoulders, "Think of all the fun we can have now, Gabriel! Think of all the pranks we can pull! Don't you remember? Remember all the fun we used to have?"

Gabriel paused.  
How could he forget. Of course he remembered all of that. What else was Gabriel supposed to think about while he was all alone inside this house.  
Lucifer held out his palm for his brother to take. "C'mon," He begged, "we can do it together. Just like we used to." Gabriels heart sped up as he thought hard about this. He could have his big brother back. He could gain back all the time he had missed out on. He lifted his hand but his fingers stayed curled at the palm. For what felt like hours he stared at Lucifers pale palm, his brain buzzing with should I or shouldn't I?  
He was just about to reach forward to take it when a voice practically shouted to him, _what about Sam? _

_Sam._  
If he stayed with Lucifer there was no doubt that he would never see Sam again. His hand recoiled and Lucifer suddenly looked angry.

"Whats the matter, Gabriel? Don't you want to stay?"

"I...I'm not sure."  
"Where else do you have to go? Is there some other home for you to go to?"  
Gabriel met his brothers gaze and chewed on the inside of his cheek. Maybe living with Lucifer would be a good thing. It would keep his mind off of Sam after all. Maybe some brotherly bonding was all he needed, besides, _what's the worst that could happen?_  
Gabriel reached forward and held his brothers hand in his own. Lucifers grip tightened as his grin broadened.

"Good to have you back, brother." He purred.

* * *

Jo blew on the end of her straw so the paper end would blow out and hit Sams nose from across the table. Sam jumped when the wrapper hit him, becoming alert to reality around him. It was two days into November now. No sign of Gabriel returning.  
Sam was sitting at lunch with Jo and Barry. Once the two of them had sat down and began chatting Sam tuned them out and began drifting off. He hadn't been thinking of Gabriel in particular, he was just tired from all the sleepless nights he had been having. He been had reoccurring dreams like the one on Halloween and when he was awake all he could pray about was the ghosts return. He was a mess. This caused him to often 'space out' during lunches or classes. His friends had taken note of this.  
"Sam!" Jo snapped, "honestly what is going on in that head of yours?"  
"Huh? Oh, sorry...I was just thinking..." Sam said softly, resuming his place with his chin in his hand and his elbow on the table, staring off into space.

"You're always thinking it seems..." Jo mumbled to Barry out of the corner of her mouth.

"Sam, is there anything wrong?" Barry asked, "You've been acting weird for a while now..."  
"I'm fine, guys." He replied.

The two weren't convinced.  
Jo leaned on the table, her blue eyes narrowed with determination. "Sam Winchester. I've known you since fourth grade don't try tellin' me nothings wrong with you. If you won't tell us whats wrong...Can we at least try to cheer you up? How about Barry and I come over to your place and hang out for a while this weekend? We can go see Star Wars again."

"I dunno, Jo..." Sam sighed, "I don't really feel like going..."  
"We can do something else then," Barry offered, "We can just go to the movie store and pick something out. How about that?"

The school bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Sam collected his things and stood up getting ready to leave when he saw the looks on his friends faces. They really were worried about him. Sam sighed and told them, "I'll think about it." Which seemed to at least make Barry relax a little. But Sam only said that to keep them off his back, he knew he wasn't really going to think about it. Jo seemed to know this.  
She was in Sam's government class and the entire time she kept leaning up from her desk to talk to Sam in front of her, asking him if something was wrong with Dean, or John, or Uncle Bobby. Sam just kept shaking his head. Jo would sit back in her seat and bite her lip, thinking, until she came up with another person Sam might be worried about.

"What about Castiel?" She whispered.  
"What about him?" He whispered back.  
"Is he all right?"  
"Yes, Jo, Cas is fine! I'm trying to read, okay?"  
"Mmmm..." She tapped her pencil on her desk in thought. She then wrinkled her nose and asked, "Ruby?"  
"No, Jo." Sam rolled his eyes.  
"Then who the hell-"  
"Jo," Sam finally spun around in his chair to face her, "I told you, I'm fine. Everyone I know is fine. Now, please, just drop it. All right?"

"Fine." She slumped back in her chair, her arms folded across her chest.

After school Sam took the long way home. He wanted to walk by Gabriels old house.  
When he got to the corner of Oak street, his eyes were glued onto the house. Sams feet felt heavier and heavier every time they hit the sidewalk as he drew closer to the house. He ran his hand absentmindedly along the chain-link fence until he came to the open gate.  
_Gabriel could be in there, _he thought, _of course he's in there..._  
Sam pushed the gate open a little farther and took a step towards the path to the house, his heart racing with the thought of seeing Gabriel again. He inched towards the house slowly, his thumb tracing the engraved letters on the pendant laying down his chest. But as he came closer to the porch a weird vibe fell over him. He looked at the front door quizzically, as though he expected something to jump out at him. Sam didn't really know what he was waiting for, the house just felt different somehow. Maybe it was Gabriel...Perhaps he was so mad at Sam that his ghost powers had begun to get more malevolent.  
_Maybe Gabriel doesn't want to see me right now..._  
Sam took a step backwards, still gazing at the front door. He felt as though he shouldn't be here.

Before turning to leave he shouted at the house, "Gabriel!" His voice echoed around the block, "Gabriel if you're in there...I just want you to know that...I miss you...Please come home, Gabe." Sam looked around at the dusty windows, looking for some kind of sign but there was nothing. Only the wind.  
He sighed heavily and turned back out the gate to head home.

* * *

Two days later Gabriel was still moping around the house. Being with Lucifer wasn't as fun as he had thought it was going to be. Lucifers sense of humor was even more twisted than it had been when they were kids. When he talked about pranking someone he wanted to go all out. He wanted to give the next kid who walked inside a real haunted house experience, "Not some sissy crap you pull, Gabe. We're ghosts! We've got so much potential now!"

Gabriel tried to tell him that setting up was pointless now that Halloween was over but Lucifer wouldn't listen. He had knifes, glass, silverware, and even some mysterious goop the brothers had found while digging through their old stuff. Apparently it had been a part of Lucifers prank kit when he was ten and he had forgotten all about it. The filled a bucket full of it and hung it over the back door.

Lucifers plan was for when the next kid walked inside the house, they were going to lock the door behind them-Lucifer reminded Gabriel to make sure all the curtains were closed, he wanted it to be as dark as possible-and then when they were locked in they would be forced to walk around the house looking for another way out-which would be the back door Lucifer would add-at this point Gabriel would make sure to make as much noise as possible. His brother wanted him to take the drawer full of silverware and just toss it down the stairs, anything to cause as much commotion to get the kid running into the kitchen where Lucifer would be waiting with the floating knifes. As the kid ran out he would step on the broken glass-Lucifer hoped this would get the kid pissing themselves. And then, as they would run out, they would get dumped with the mysterious goop.  
"I may be a bit rusty but I've got to say I'm pretty proud of thinking this up." Lucifer had said.

"Yeah, okay, Lou," Gabriel had smirked, rolling his firecrackers in his palms, "But...are the glass and knifes really necessary? I mean, we can just scare them enough knocking stuff over and what not. Either way they'll go running out the back door with the bucket over their head. That's the part that'll be funny."

"Of course we need the knifes and glass!" Lucifer exclaimed, "we need to be _scary_, Gabriel! Maybe I'll even throw a few at them as they run out..."

"What? We want to prank them not kill-"

Lucifers stare turned cold and Gabriel cut himself short. The house was very quiet until the older brothers pink lips parted into a smirk. "You've gone soft, haven't you, brother?"

"Soft?" Gabriel sputtered. He didn't think he was the problem here exactly.

"Yes...soft," Lucifer repeated, tapping his finger to his smirking lips, "Don't worry, baby bro. This prank will get you back in the game, I promise."

"Heh...yeah..."

All day Lucifer waited.  
He stood by the window in his bedroom, looking out onto the street in front of the house. Waiting for someone to come up to the house. He was patient but anxious.  
Gabriel merely sat in his bedroom eating candy.  
"You know, Lou," He drawled from down the hall, "when you told me this was gonna be like old times, I kinda pictured-oh, I dunno-us actually doing something!"

His brother shushed him.

After what felt like another thirteen years later, Lucifer called to him, "Gabriel! Someones here!"

The latter scrambled from the bed and down the hall to look out the window where his older brother was pointing. Gabriel almost didn't believe his eyes.  
There, standing at the gate, was Sam.  
The seventeen year olds heart was hammering hard inside his chest with warmth and excitement from seeing Sam again. He looked like a little lost puppy that Gabriel just wanted to scoop up in his arms and kiss. He nearly smiled and pressed his hands against the glass to get a closer look when his brothers cold voice stopped his heart, "told you we were bound to get someone."

"Sam no..." Gabriel said to himself, worrying on his lip. _Go back, Sam...Go home, just go home why don't you!_

Sam was walking closer and closer to the house, he was playing with Gabriels necklace and the ghost felt a tiny tug on his heart as he watched this. He didn't want to scare Sam. He could never do this to Sam. Especially with what Lucifer had in store for him. He couldn't go through with it.

"Lucifer," Gabriel stood in front of the window, taking his brothers attention away from Sam on the path to the house, "Lucifer I'm not doing this."

"What? Why did you change your mind so suddenly? Of course you're going through with it!"  
"No, Lou, I-I can't."  
"Why not? This'll be fun!"  
"No, it wont. It's dangerous."  
"Since when are you so mature-?"

"Gabriel!" Sams muffled voice from outside stopped the brothers bickering and the two turned their attention back to him. _Oh no_, Gabriels eyes widened. "Gabriel if you're in there...I just want you to know that...I miss you...Please come home, Gabe."

"You know this kid?" Lucifer hitched a thumb out the window, his eyes flashed dangerously.  
"Well-I-uh-I am quite popular you know-"  
"He knows your name...He asked you to come home-what does that mean, Gabriel?" With every step Gabriel took backwards his brother took a step forward.  
"Well, its-uh-its kinda a funny story, Lou," He chuckled nervously, holding up his hands, "You'll think its hilarious."

"What's your relationship with that kid?"  
"What?"  
"Is it like your relationship with that English boy-?"  
"No! No! Sa-he and I are strictly platonic I swear."

Lucifer paused, standing straight with both arms stiff at his sides. Gabriel had never felt so small in his life. He had forgotten how tall Lucifer was. "Good." His brother said slowly, "I was beginning to wonder if you had grown out of it or not."

"Grown out of it?" Gabriel repeated, "What do you mean?"

"Oh, you know," Lucifer waved his hand in the air as though he was swatting a bug away, "That whole gay thing of yours."

Gabriel had never felt so insulted in his life. He clenched his fists and hissed, "that's not something I can grow out of, Lucifer."  
"What?"  
"It's who I am. I didn't grown out of anything I'm me."

The house was silent.

Lucifer lunged forward with an angry growl, tackling his brother and the two sank through the floorboards to the first floor.

* * *

Sam bolted straight up in his bed, covered in a cold sweat, his grey shirt drenched. His hair was sticking up every which away from tossing and turning on his pillow. He felt too hot and everything was too dark, his chest was heaving up and down as he panted, his eyes darting around his dark room. He reached for Gabriels necklace on his chest for comfort. Another bad dream.

"Sam?" A voice whispered.

The sixteen year old nearly jumped out of his skin, He pressed his back against his wall and looked to the end of his bed where he could see a shadowy figure sitting on his comforter. His eyes adjusted to the darkness and he finally recognized the owner of the voice. He couldn't believe his ears. He quickly leaned over to the side table and clicked on the lap next to him. His face quickly turned from fear to joy when he saw who had finally returned. He gasped, "Gabriel?"

"Yeah...It's me." and then because it was Gabriel he added, "You miss me?"

"Garbiel where have you-"  
"I'm sorry, I know I've been gone...I've been gone longer than I planned..But I just..I just needed to blow off some steam...I'm sorry for leaving like I did, Sam..." He seemed like he wanted to say more but he simply looked at the floor and his sentence drifted away from him, losing the words he meant to say**. **The longer Sam looked at him the more he noticed something seemed off about his ghost. Like he had been hurt.

"Gabe...are you all right?"

"That's all you got to say to me?" He retorted, "No, 'I missed ya, Gabe!' or 'sorry for being a toolbox, Gabe.' just, 'are you all right?!' Of course I'm all right I've been all right for thirteen years all on my own I can handle a week or so!"

Sam didn't care that Gabriel had just called him tool. This was proof he had him back. Good old Gabriel had come back. And he was glad for that.  
He was home. He was with Sam where he belonged. The junior crawled across his mattress to the end of the bed where Gabriel sat and flung his arms around his neck, feeling that warmth and wholeness he was used to. He pressed his head against the back of the ghosts shoulder, smiling blissfully. "You're real," he breathed, "it's not a dream...I'm so glad..." Gabriel seemed taken aback by this action, he tensed as Sam hugged him, his arms turning frigid. His back was still a bit sore.

"I'm glad you're home, Gabriel."

_Home._ Gabriels heart soared at the word. _Home._ _This was home? _Did he mean that this little white square house with tan shutters and a dark brown roof was his home? Or was his home this sixteen year old boy latched onto him like life support? The past few days Gabriel wasn't exactly sure what a home was or if he had one. But now he knew for sure what it was.  
His home was this little room where they spent their rainy day weekends, his home was the library where he would watch Sam read chapter after chapter of his favorite books, his home was at the movie store where Sam would grab a cassette and wave it in front of his face; insisting that this was one of the greatest movies to ever exist and Gabriel absolutely had to watch it with him that night. His home was Sam Winchester and he wasn't planning on leaving it.

Gabriel turned slightly and wrapped his arms up under the sixteen year olds armpits, hugging him back tightly. His head pressed against his gray tshirt. "It's good to be back, Sam.."

"Gabriel-Gabriel I don't care that you call me kiddo," Sam babbled tightening his hand in a ball while clenching Gabriels jacket. "I was just mad before-I dont care, honest. I like it when you call me kiddo and-and you can eat all the candy you want we still have a bunch left over from Halloween! And you can play Asia whenever you want! I do like that song, I do!""

Gabriels eyes flashed as he grinned and hugged Sam tighter. _Yes,_ he thought, _it was good to be home._ "I'm sorry I left, Sam...Did you survive Halloween without me?"  
"Me?" Sam asked, "I was so worried about you!"

Gabriel parted from him, holding him at arms length, "You were worried about me?"

"Of course I was! I missed you like crazy, Gabriel!" The ghost tried to hide his blushing but failed. Sam pointed a finger at him and grinned "You missed me too I know you did!"

"Naw!" Gabriel shrugged, "Why would I miss you? I was sittin' quite pretty up in my bedroom with _all_ the candy I could eat. I was so busy I didn't have _time _to miss you, kiddo."

"Oh, really?" Sam smirked, "so you weren't lonely at all?"  
"Nope. I just decided to stop by for a visit is all."  
"Well, I'm glad you stopped by. But now I'm afraid I'm going to have to keep you locked in here forever. I'm not lettin' you disappear on me like that again, Novak." He smirked.

Gabriel laughed and then added, "Oh, hey, what happened to you and Ruby? Did you ask you again?"

"No."

He squinted his warm honey eyes and cocked his head to the side. "But I thought you were crazy about her? Why didn't you give it another shot?"

Sam only grinned. "'Cause...I don't like her anymore."

Gabriels eyes seemed to spark open in surprise. "Really?" He said, astonished. "What made that happen?"

"Gabriel..." Sam raised an eyebrow, "really?"  
"...What?"  
"You really have no idea?"  
"I really don't! What made you come to your senses, did your brother knock you in the head with the car door or something?"

"No," Sam laughed, "Gabriel I..." He then started to blush, looking at his fingers shyly. His two front teeth bit his bottom lip to hold back a creeping smirk crawling up his face.

"What?" Gabriel chuckled, slugging Sams shoulder playfully, "Whats got you so hot and bothered, Sammich? C'mon, tell me! Who is it now?"

Sams green iris' looked up at Gabriel, his head still hung shyly towards his lap. Gabriel was about to make another smart remark but was stopped when in the next moment Sam looked up and swiftly pulled the ghosts face up to his. Their lips met and Gabriel was so shocked his eyes were wide open, watching Sam kiss him. He never noticed how pretty Sams eyelashes were before.  
It seemed to Gabriel that Sam didn't really know how to kiss given it had been like an hour and the only thing that had happened was that their mouths had made contact together. They would have to work on that, Gabriel thought. Sam finally parted, breathing heavy.  
No matter if the kiss was good or bad Gabriels heart was pounding in his throat. He gulped to put it back in its place.

"S-Sam Winchester..." He said, trying to stop the room from spinning. He was grinning, "You really mean that?"

Sams face was now burning beat red. "Don't be an ass." He said in a voice that sounded like he was a six year old. Gabriel slowly leaned across the bed, placing his hand over Sams, and using the other to cup the boys chin. Their eyelids fluttered close as their faces drew closer to the others. Gabriels lips connected with Sams.  
The whole time Gabriel thought to himself, _Ohmygod, ohmygod I'm making out with Sam! Ohmygod this has to be a dream! I'm making out with Sam-and he isn't drunk!_  
Gabriel couldn't help but smile as he wrapped his arm around Sam and kneaded his fingers through his wavy brown hair. After thirteen years of being couped up in an empty, dusty house this was the kind of intimacy Gabriel craved. He just wanted Sam. He just wanted Sam close to him as possible. He kept inching closer him until he was practically sitting in his lap. Both of his hands where now running through Sams hair and Sam kept his hands on Gabriels hips.

Sam had never been kissed before. He felt embarrassed for kissing Gabriel first, God only knows how experienced he was with kissing. He wasn't a good kisser like Balthazar. He was so self conscious about it after it had been done but forgot what he was so upset about when Gabriel took charge. Sam had never been kissed before but he had a feeling this was what a good kisser was like. He liked the way Gabriels fingers felt when they ran through his hair and he liked having him in his lap. He felt like he could do this for the rest of his life.

Gabriel suddenly parted. He pressed his forehead against Sams, his eyelids closed. Both of were them panting. Sam slowly moved one hand off of Gabriels hip and slid it up to his fine hair. His fingers toyed with the tiny curly q's at the nape of his neck like they so often played with the dog-tag. Gabriels mouth twitched to a smirk when he did this, letting out a tiny breathy laugh. Nothing warmed Sams heart quite like that did.

The ghost pushed Sam down onto the mattress and hovered over him. Sam was gazing up at Gabriels face now, his eyes gleaming and his hair falling towards his face like a golden waterfall. He couldn't stop looking at Gabriels pink lips. He always thought it was sort of funny because sometimes when Gabriels laughing his mouth makes it look like his teeth are all gone. Now he just thought it was adorable.  
He wrapped an arm around his ghosts neck and pulled him down to kiss him again. Gabriel didn't protest. But before he met with Sams lips again, he cocked one arm up to the side and snapped his fingers, turning off the side table lamp next to them.


	8. Chapter 8: Brothers

**Chapter Eight: Brothers**

After Lucifer had tackled his brother he had sent himself and Gabriel not only through the second floor, but through the first to the cellar in which the family never used except for storage and hiding Christmas presents. Gabriels back collided hard against the concrete floor. He yelped in pain and cringed slightly. Lucifer had him pinned now, holding his wrists down above his head and sitting on his abdomen.  
"You know the best part about this, Gabriel," Lucifer growled, his face very close to his younger brothers, "After I break your face, you're just going to heal up again. And then I get to this all over."

"Lucifer please-" Gabriel whimpered, but before he could finish his brothers fist collided into his face. Gabriels nose throbbed. He hadn't felt pain like this in an eternity. After Lucifers next punch Gabriel saw spots of crimson on his knuckles. He could feel the blood dripping from his nose.  
His brother now bundled Gabriels white tee shirt in his fist, pulling him up closer to him. Gabriels fingers wrapped around his brothers wrist as though this touch would make him realize what he was doing and he would stop. But Lucifer didn't stop.

It is a little known fact that a great white shark is named for the fact that it has a great white round eyes. When a great white attacks its prey it protects itself by rolling its eyes to the back of its head, making it look an aquatic demon as it rips its preys flesh. For the entire time that the shark is attacking its prey it is swimming blindly.  
Gabriel thought this was similar to what Lucifer was doing to him right now.

All the light in Lucifers eyes seemed to have vanished. This was not his brother. This was a monster, swimming blindly in rage as it attacked.  
Gabriel couldn't believe how foolish he had been. He should have never stayed here. He should have never left Sam. He felt so stupid and childish for clinging onto this hope that everything could be normal this way. He and Lucifer could never go back to the way they were before. All of that thinking that perhaps the brothers could live together and pull pranks and have fun, that was all just an acid trip dream. It was practically another world.

As Gabriel was being pummeled over and over again by his brother he could feel his face swelling and smarting badly, his lip was split and his nose was gushing. Between the punches he could hear his brother spitting, "You...fuckin'...homo..."

Gabriel beat up the linebacker of the football his junior year of high school after he had attended one of the football games, and after a terrible lose Gabriel had made some smart remark. The linebacker had heard this and got in Gabriels face. Gabriel would have brushed it off and walked away with his head thrown back and his middle finger in the air if the football player hadn't brought up his elder brothers. He couldn't remember what the linebacker had said exactly but it was something along the lines of them being spoiled rotten, and that because of this they wouldn't even know how to wipe their own ass if they ever got through college. He said that Lucifer didn't deserve that football scholarship.  
Gabriel had rounded on him in the next moment. He didn't have time to scheme a prank to get back at the dick, he had to act then and now. All Gabriel remembers from that fight is breaking his wrist and breaking the kids nose. The linebacker had to wear this funny white headgear thing on his face for a few weeks and he sported two black eyes. Some of Gabriels friends had come up to him the next day, practically exploding with excitement as they told him how they couldn't believe such a little guy like Gabriel Novak could bust the linebackers nose like that. It must have been entertaining to watch.  
The point being, Gabriel knew how to fight. Gabriel could take on his brother. They would be evenly matched perhaps, but Gabriel could defend himself. He just couldn't seem to bring himself to hurt Lucifer. He just couldn't. One part of his brain told himself that this wasn't his brother anymore and it wouldn't matter if he punched him, he deserved it. But the other side of his brain seemed to overpower this side. The side reminding him of the round faced nine year old running along side him as they waved sparklers around in the dark sky. His hand just wouldn't ball into a fist, his knuckles just couldn't come into contact with that face. He couldn't do it.

Lucifer seemed like he couldn't stop.

That was another thing about sharks. They never seemed satisfied.

"You're making this too easy, Gabriel!" Lucifer shouted, drawing back his fist to hit him again. He had jerked Gabriels shirt towards him to make his face closer to his. "Don't just sit there!"  
Gabriels fingers loosened around his brothers wrist, he felt so weak.  
"Luci-fer..." He sputtered, his mouth tasting blood, "...Please...broth-er..."

"You're no brother of mine." He hissed through clenched teeth, "I should have never given you a chance. I should have kicked you out." Lucifer released Gabriels teeshirt from his grip and let his head smack on the cement. Gabriel yelped.  
Lucifer got up off of him and stood beside his body, as though waiting for Gabriel to leap up and attack him. But the poor boy just lay on the ground, curled in a ball. The tears he had kept bottled inside him for almost a week were now leaking down his face in thick heavy blobs. As he whimpered, Lucifer sneered, "You're so pathetic." and gave him a swift kick in the stomach. Gabriel heaved, rolling over onto his knees. His arms were wrapped around his middle and his nose was tingling as though it were on fire. Through the blurry tears in his eyes he could see droplets of scarlet staining the floor. He was so tired. Lucifer was speaking but he was a million miles away. Nothing but white noise in the background.  
Gabriels eyes fluttered close and for the first time in a long time-he fell asleep.

When he woke up Lucifer was still there. He was sitting on brown storage boxes that were stacked against the wall. One leg dangled off the side and one was towards his chest. He was twiddling with something in his hands, it too dark for Gabriel to tell.  
He shakenly used his arms to prop himself up, his eyes looking at the dark pool of dry blood that rested where his face had been, but when he ran a trembling hand over his face, he felt normal.  
"I'm guessing you didn't know," Lucifer drawled, not lifting his eyes to look at his brother, "you can beat a ghost to a bloody pulp as much as you want...but they'll always heal in an hour or so. Amazing. Isn't it?" Gabriel blinked, he wondered how Lucifer could have known this. "Of course, you may still feel a bit sore in some spots. You're wondering how I know all of this aren't you?" Lucifer chuckled darkly, "You wouldn't believe the things I saw while at the hospital. At first...when this guy Crowley started telling me all these paranormal these...I didn't believe him. I just thought he was another nutcase. But then...I thought...what if...you know? I mean Crowley really believed in this crap. One time...we even smuggled in a Ouija board. We talked to some ghosts and at first I just thought it was Crowley just messing with me but then he took his fingers off the little glass thing and I...I really believed."

Gabriels head throbbed. He squinted and rubbed his hand through his hair, feeling for a knot but there was no evidence of one. Just a dull pain. "Ho-How long was I out?"  
"Hours." Answered Lucifer. "Slept like a baby."  
"Why don't you just get rid of me?" Hissed the younger brother, "If you hate being around me so much; why don't you just throw me out like you said you should have?"

"Ahhh," tisked Lucifer, "I thought about that. But then I thought...that wouldn't be good enough...If I _really _wanted to hurt you, I would have to go after the thing you cared about most..." He stopped playing with the item in his hands as though he were frozen in time. The only part of his body that moved were his eyes. The pupils shifted to the side devilishly to glare at Gabriel kneeling on the floor. His mouth moved slowly as he began talking again, "Tell me, Gabe, was he as good as that English fellow?"

It didn't take long for him to realize what he had meant.

_Sam._

"You didn't." Gabriel gasped, getting to his feet without hesitating.  
"You're right," He replied, sighing, "I didn't. Not yet."  
"Well, you're never going to! You're not going to touch Sam you got it?"  
"Sam? So that's his name." Lucifer grinned.

Gabriel ignored his comment, "You're not going to go anywhere near him! You're not even going to breathe near him! Not while I'm around!"

"Oooh," Lucifer cooed, "protective boyfriend aren't you?"

"I'm not his boyfriend," Gabriels face felt hot, "Sam doesn't like me like that."

"Oh yes, I see," the man pretended to pout, "poor wittle Gabey, stuck in the freindzone."

The teenager huffed, clenching his fists, "Stay away from me and Sam!" He roared, "I swear if you do anything-I'll-I'll-"

"You'll what? Beat me up? I don't remember bleeding all over the concrete while _you_ pinned me down, Gabriel. So who was that? Oh, wait! That was you wasn't it?"  
"Stay away from me, Lucifer. I'm done."

And before Lucifer could call after him, Gabriel was gone in a blur.

That's probably why people are so afraid of sharks; you'll never know when they'll attack. And when they do its usually quick and bloody.

* * *

Sam was safe.  
That was all that mattered. As long as Gabriel was with Sam he could know he was safe.  
Gabriel was sleeping now. Sam was facing him, watching him sleep peacefully. It was odd to think that a hurricane like Gabriel could be so quiet and calm like this when he slept. He looked so innocent and sweet.  
Sam smiled and nuzzled his head into his pillow, running his fingers through Gabriels golden hair, watching it fall back into place perfectly when he dripped his hand back down beside him.  
He didn't want to wake him when he looked so adorable like this, but he also wanted to know everything Gabriel had been doing over the past week he had been gone.  
_A week_.  
Gabriel had only been gone for a week? For Sam it had felt like an eternity.  
Sam sighed happily as he ran over the events of last night in his head. Gabriels kisses were as sweet as the candy he ate, and it was so calming to Sam to feel that warm body and the warm hands against his chest instead of feeling that ice cold wispy figure. He remembered at about two in the morning Gabriel was half asleep and curled up next to his chest. He was trying to keep himself awake by talking, but everything that came out of his mouth was almost nonsense. Sam had laughed and told him to get some last thing Gabriel had said was; "You...you got taller, kiddo...I coulda sworn you were about a...foot shorter...Imma call you Samsquatch..." A yawn had cut him off.

"Okay, Gabriel." Sam had chuckled, tracing circles on the ghosts arm. Gabriel was already asleep by then. Sam soon followed.

The ghost stirred suddenly. With a roll of his shoulders and a flutter of his eyelids he was awake. His eyes were still very sleepily and blurry as he sat up on his elbows and looked around the room, confused. He then turned back around and spotted Sam. He looked surprised to see that he was sharing a bed with Sam Winchester and the boy laughed. Gabriel seemed to come to and remember last night. A grin spread his face and he said in a sleepy voice, "I was worried that had been a dream."

"Nope." Sam replied softly, "all real."

"Even the part with you and the chocolate bar?"  
"Chocolate bar?"  
"Yeah...You had it covering your-"  
"Uh-I think _that_ was your dream, Gabe."  
"Oh...Damn."  
They laughed, and Gabriel plopped back down into the poofy pillow face first.

"Going back to sleep?" Sam asked, running fingers along Gabriels bare back. Gabriel merely groaned in response. Sam just smirked and faced the ceiling, closing his eyes as well but still running his hand up and down the ghosts pale skin. They laid in silence for a while. Just enjoying the others company and enjoying the feeling of having another warm body next to their own. Gabriels quiet murmur soon broke the silence though, "Did we do it?"  
"No," Sam chuckled again, "We didn't. You're thinking of your dream again, aren't you?"  
"I'm too tired..." He moaned, "Wake me up when it's tomorrow."  
"Okay." Sam turned on his side and wrapped an arm around Gabriel, pulling the ghost closer towards him. Gabriel was like dead weight but he moved so that his back would be pressed against Sams chest. Their bodies were like two puzzle pieces fitting together to make the picture. For the first time in a while Gabriel felt at peace with the world. Everything felt right.

Dean pushed open the door and ratted on the wood with his knuckles, "Hey, Sammy, breakfast is ready if you want...some..." Dean stood puzzled in the doorway. He could see Sam laying awkwardly in the bed. It looked as though he was spooning somebody but there wasn't anyone there. Deans eyebrows knitted together as he said slowly, "Uhh...Sam...What are you doing?"  
His younger brothers eyes fluttered open in surprise and he quickly re-positioned himself. Gabriel groaned again when the warm presence of Sams body left him.

"No-Nothing why? I was just sleeping."

"It looks like you were spooning with yourself."  
"Wha-at...No, no," Sam faked a laugh, "thats-thats weird, Dean, who would I be spooning with theres nobody here. You're seeing things."  
"...You're so weird. If you're not too busy spooning with yourself how about some breakfast."  
"I'll be down in a minute."  
Dean left the door open before he left to go downstairs.

"Gabriel, I gotta get up."  
"No," He whined, tangling his limbs around Sam and burring his face into Sams chest, "No. Stay here with me. Sleep now. Eat later."  
"Gabriel, I already told Dean I'd-"  
"Sleep now." Gabriel thread his short legs in between Sams, clinging to him like a python around a fat rat. Sam sighed.  
"All right. Fine. But only for a few more minutes." He nuzzled his check against the top of Gabriels hair. The ghost didn't respond. He just slept.

"What happened to coming down for breakfast?" Dean asked, not taking his eyes away from the dishes he was washing in the soap filled sink. It was eleven o'clock now. Sam couldn't escape from Gabriels python-like grasp until now. He had fallen asleep but it was quite a struggle for Sam to wiggle out of his cuddling boyfriend without waking him back up. Gabriel was hardly known for being an excessive sleeper before now. He slept an hour or so at the most, and was always the first one awake in the morning. But today he refused to leave the bed for any kind of reason. Sam didn't worry about it much though.  
Castiel was sitting at the kitchen table, he looked like he had just gotten out of bed as well. His hair was messier than usual and his eyes looked half asleep. He was slurping coffee out of an old Christmas mug.

"Sorry," Said Sam, "I dozed off again."

"Well you're lucky I saved you something to eat. Cas nearly cleaned us out."

"I apologize," Said Cas in a gruff sleepy voice, "but I am always starving in the morning."

"Yeah, we _know_, Cas," Dean smiled, "Your stomach is practically a black hole. You don't need to tell us twice."

Sam giggled as he walked over to the refrigerator to get out the orange juice and the slightly cold but still warm waffles that Dean had set aside for his brother.  
Sam sat down across from Castiel and poured himself a glass of the juice before drowning his waffles in maple syrup. As he did this, Cas was staring at him oddly.

He was squinting his blue eyes and tilting his head to the side slowly. He wasn't looking at anything on Sams face but something below it. After Sam had shoveled food into his mouth he noticed this and cocked an eyebrow, puzzled.  
"Whats up, Cas?" Sam swallowed, "What are you-"

"Is that a hickey." Cas asked with a blank face and an even blanker tone of voice.

Sam choked and Dean nearly dropped the dish he was washing, "What?" they both exclaimed with different tones of emotion. Dean was practically giddy and Sam was blushing.

The next thing Sam knew his brother had his hands gripping his face in a death grip and forced his head to tilt to the side to reveal the tiny purple mark on his neck. Cas leaned forward slightly across the table to get a better look at it too. Sam was thankful that Gabriel had peppered the rest of them on his shoulders.  
"Dean!" Sam barked at him, but his brother ignored him.

"Well, shit, Sam!" Dean laughed, "You gotta secret girlfriend we don't know about?"

"No!" Sam finally squirmed away and rubbed his neck with his palm, "i-it's not a hickey!"

Dean and Castiel looked at each other and broke out laughing as though they had just shared an inside joke.

"It's not!"

"Then what is it?" Cas asked.

"I-I fell out of bed."

They laughed again.

"Stop laughing! It's not a hickey!"

"Sammy, we kow what hickeys look like. Don't even try denying it we know what it is. C'mon! You don't gotta be embarrassed," Dean sat down next to him, smiling, "whats the girls name?"

"Do I know her from school?" Added Castiel.

"Well..I..uh.."

"C'mon, Sammy, out with it! I promise we won't make fun of you or anything. How old is she?"

"Seventeen..."

"Oooh, an older chick?" Dean teased.

"Don't pay attention to him, Sam," Cas rolled his eyes, "Whats the girls name?"

"...Gabriel...His name is Gabriel."

"Oh." Dean and Cas looked at each other again but no one laughed.

"Well," Cas spoke first, "I don't recall any Gabriels going to school. He should be in my grade shouldn't he?"

"He...He's home schooled."  
"How long have you known each other?"  
"For a while. Since September. He-he just moved in."

"How long have you two been together, huh?" Dean asked, his smirk had vanished.

"Not long." Sam tried to hide a small smirk as he looked at the floor, he liked being able to talk about Gabriel. He just didn't have to mention the ghost part. Or the part where he was Castiels brother.

"Whats he like? Is he nice?" Cas asked.

"Oh, yeah, he's nice. Well, he's nice to people he likes. He can be a bit of a dick if you piss him off though," Sam smirked, "But he's really funny and sweet..."

"Well, Sammy, if you like this Gabriel guy, then I like him," Dean smiled, "next time he's over I gotta meet him. Okay?"

"Y-yeah, sure...He'd like that I think."

Castiel took a sip of his coffee and then slowly placed it back down onto the table cloth, looking at the drink in deep thought and not speaking for quite a while. Before he finally spoke he flicked his eyes up to look at Dean and he asked, "Should we tell him?"

It was Deans turn to blush, "Well-uh-Cas, you know we always planned to-"

"Dean it's only fair."  
"Tell me what?" Sam asked.  
"Your brother and I are dating, Sam."

"Cas!" Sam had never seen his brother act so flustered.

"Oh, I know that." The words fell out of Sams mouth before he could stop himself. The two looked at him surpised and confused.

"You knew?" Sputtered Dean.  
"I thought we did our best to keep our relationship quite private," Castiel added, "how did you know, Sam?"

"Oh, well-uh," He scratched the back of his head awkwardly, he couldn't exactly tell them that Gabriel had told him. That would just raise more questions. "I just uh...figured it out on my own. Dean's always calling you baby and stuff so..."

"All right thats enough family sharing for a month or so!" Dean announced loudly, getting up from his chair. His cheeks were a rosey pink. Cas just looked at his Christmas mug and giggled shyly. Sam just smirked, glad the attention had gotten away from him and his hickey.

"So, Cas," Sam smiled coyly, "how were you so sure you knew what a hickey looked like? If my memory is correct I don't remember you ever going out with anyone before Dean. So that must mean..."

"Sam. If you want to see your boyfriend again you'll keep your mouth shut before I rip your lungs out."

Sam-and even Castiel-just snickered.

After Sam had finished eating he went back upstairs to see if Gabriel had finally woken up enough so he could ask him about where he had been and what he was doing before he finally came home. But, alas, Sam sighed heavily as he spotted his ghost in the same position as when he had left him. He walked over and sank into the mattress next to him, shaking his shoulder lightly.

"Gabriel," he called softly, "Gabe wake up."  
Gabriel groaned and turned over to face Sam, squinting one sleepy caramel colored eye open and croaking out, "What."  
"C'mon get up."  
"Why."  
"I wanna talk to you." Sam smiled sweetly.

"'Bout what."  
"About where you've been."

"Too tired. Talk later." Gabriel replied, shutting his eye and snuggling back into the pillow.

"I also kind of want to know why you're so tired all of a sudden." Sam added. The ghost replied with a grunt. "Gabriel!" He sighed, yanking the covers off of him and tossing them onto the floor. The ghost shuddered slightly, folding into himself for warmth. Both of his eyes snapped open and leered at Sam.

"I'm just tired."  
"No you're not. You've never been this tired before. What happened?"  
Gabriel sighed, "If I tell you, will you let me sleep?"  
"Yes."  
"Fine."

Gabriel sat up and rubbed his eyes with his palms. "All right, look," He ran a hand through his hair, "I went back to my old house-and yes, I heard you calling for me-and then this other ghost showed up and beat the crap out of me and the only way I can get better is if I sleep it off so here I am sleeping. Good night."

"Wait-What!" Sam gasped, but Gabriel had already pulled the blankets back from off the floor and was nestled in a warm cocoon on the bed, turned away from Sam. "Gabriel, who was this ghost that beat you up? Why would he do that? Why didn't you fight back! I saw you beat up Zachariah why didn't you fight him?" No response. "Gabriel! C'mon, dude."

"It was Lucifer." He whispered.  
"What?"

Gabriel flopped back over, holding himself up by his hands, "It was Lucifer. My brother came back as a ghost on Halloween and asked me to stay with him. But when he found out I was still gay he got pissed and beat the shit out of me. I couldn't fight back because I'm too much of a wuss to stand up to my older brother. So he beat me up until I passed out and when I woke up I came here and now I'm sleeping the rest of my injuries off. And even though you're cute, Sammich, you're kinda pissin' me off." Gabriel plopped back down onto the bed, facing the ceiling.

"You're hurt?" He asked softly, "what hurts?"

"Just my back and my head. I'll be okay."  
"I'm sorry."  
The ghost turned onto his side and smirked, sliding his hand under Sams and threading his fingers in between the gaps of Sams. "Don't sweat it kiddo," He yawned, "Just being here and knowing you're okay already makes me feel better."

Sam smiled and kissed the top of Gabriels hair. "Good night, Gabe."

"Hey," he added drowsily, "you know what would make me feel better, kiddo?"

"What?"  
"Some candy...that would be the best."  
"Go to sleep, Gabriel."

* * *

It was a week or so later and Gabriel was back to his normal self.  
He was presently laying on top of Sam as the two made out on Sam's bed. Sams radio was playing on the windowsill and his hands were resuming their usual place on Gabriels had been kissing like this for quite some time and it wasn't long until Gabriel stopped, his eyes flashing as he sat back, looking at Sam with a straight face. "Well that's new." He noted aloud.

"Wha-whats wrong?" Sams cheeks turned red slightly.

"You're penis is on my thigh." He answered without changing his expression.

Sam blushed harder. "Oh-Sorry, I'm so sorry," He sputtered, "I-"  
"It's all right," Gabriel said, his face still looked serious, "I can take care of it for you."  
"You-Wha-O-okay.."  
"You sure?"  
"Ye-Yeah. Go for it."

Gabriels face flashed into a devilish grin that got Sams blood pumping more than it already had been. Gabriel grabbed Sam by his shirt and pulled him up to meet his lips. Sam tried to focus on the kissing and not on Gabriels hand sliding down his chest and towards the crotch of his jeans. His fingers twitched against the ghosts hips as he felt Gabriel unbuttoning and unzipping his jeans, his brain buzzing with anticipation of what was going to happen next. He wondered how Gabriel knew what to do. He wanted to know but at the same time he didn't. How many people did Gabriel go out with exactly? Sam had only ever heard of Balthazar and Kali but he wondered about all the crushes and dates Gabriel had been on. How did Gabriel get so experienced?  
He completely forgot about all of that when he felt Gabriels hand stroking his erection. Only one thing ran through his mind now: _Ohmygod. _Gabriel was touching him, Gabriel was touching him and oh my god this was a high he never wanted to come down from. He wanted Gabriel to feel how good this felt and the only thing he could think of doing at that moment was kissing him harder. Gabriel just smiled because he knew this was a way Sam was showing his gratitude. He kissed him back as he continued to slowly stroke Sams penis.  
Heat continued to pool in the pit of Sams stomach as he slid his tongue into Gabriels mouth, the pace quickened with each stroke of Gabriels hand. Gabriel knew he wouldn't last much longer.  
He liked having this sort of power over Sam. He liked having Sam wither and melt from his touch. He liked hearing the tiny whimpers and grunts that Sam made in between their kisses, those were enough to make Gabriel go over the edge. He liked the taste of Sam in his mouth from their hot, breathy, and wet kisses. As Sam made another whimper he threw his head back in ecstasy and Gabriel began to pepper his neck with his lips. Through clenched teeth Sam groaned Gabriels name and the ghosts eyes popped open with a spark. This just fed him more of the power he enjoyed. He had control over Sam at this moment and he was going to enjoy it for as long as he could. He slowed down his pace.

"Gabriel," Sam groaned again, he needed more and the ghost knew this, "Gabriel, goddamnit."  
The ghost just smiled wickedly against Sams skin. "Gabriel, please."  
The ghost just continued to tease him.  
Sams grip on Gabriels hips tightened until he was practically digging his nails into his skin and Gabriel jumped slightly at the pinch in his sides. He ignored it, picking his head up to drag out on a long kiss with Sam. He used both of his hands to hold Sams head in place as he kissed him. Sam was like sweet licorice and Gabriel wanted every last bit of him. The ghost tried to pull back away but Sam just pulled with him, his lips glued onto the others. One of his hands shifted up from Gabriels hip and pressed against the middle of his back, clutching his shirt. Gabriel finally managed to pull away from the kiss and went back to placing his soft lips on Sams neck.  
"Gabriel..." Sam whimpered again when .  
He quickened his pace again, deciding he had tortured poor Sam long enough and went back to fisting his erection.  
It was all over in one stroke.  
Galaxies swam and millions of stars and planets com-busted before Sams eyes as he emptied himself all over Gabriels hand and the sheets. He let out what sounded like a pre-puberty squeak as he was pushed over the edge, and when it was over he felt so calm and sleepy he thought perhaps he had just woken up from a dream instead.

"S-sorry..." He panted when Gabriel had lifted his messy hand.  
"It's all right, Sammich," He smirked. When he looked up Sam noticed that his eyes had a new spark to them. He got up off the bed to grab a towel from the hamper in the corner of the room.

Sam redid his pants and when Gabriel turned back around he held out his arms and said softly, "C'mere." Gabriel shook his head and smiled, crawling back into bed with Sam and together they lay.

"You're a big dork, you know that." Gabriel mumbled.

"Not as much as you." replied Sam.

"I'm too cool to be a dork. You're the dork in this relationship."  
"Have you met you?"  
Gabriel kicked Sam lightly and grumbled, "Shut up, Samsquatch."

* * *

Sam chuckled, hugging Gabriel tighter.

It was dark now.

Sam and Gabriel slept together in Sams bed as usual. Gabriel was tucked in a ball against the taller boys chest and Sam had his limbs tangled around Gabriels little body. Gabriel hadn't quite gotten to sleep yet. It was nearly one in the morning but he was a ghost and didn't necessarily need sleep. Sleep was a luxury and tonight he just wanted to look at Sam. He just wanted to watch his face while he slept. He liked feeling the rise and fall of his chest against his hand and he could hear the beating of his live heart pounding inside. It was almost like a lullaby to him. Gabriel smiled to himself and whispered, "I love you, Sam." Sam just continued to sleep. He didn't really say it for Sam to hear, he just said it because he felt it. He know had a little secret and he grinned again as he buried his face into Sams warm chest and rested his eyes.

But someone had heard. Someone outside standing in the autumn air. Leaves danced with the wind and the moon shone on his back. None of this affected him. He couldn't feel the coldness. He was already cold.

His gaze glared into the room, locked on the two teenagers clinging to each other. His eyes narrowed with disgust and hatred, a red glow emitted from them as his lips pressed together in a straight line. His arms were folded behind his back, he held something in his palm, he rubbed his fingers over it gingerly, toying with it in his hands.

"_I found you, Gabriel." _ He whispered to himself as a hungry monster roared inside his chest. "_Soon. Be patient."_

* * *

Sams head rested on Gabriels lap as the two laid on his bed. The ghost leaned against the wall, one arm behind his head and his free hand was combing through Sams brown hair, his golden eyes watching the teenager. Sams knees were tucked up to his chest, propping his green notebook against them as he scribbled out a story about a boy who was sent to the principals office; only to find out that his principal was a monster with a craving for high schoolers. Gabriel chuckled as he read along, "I like this one."

Sam grinned up at him.

It was now the middle of November; the wind was cold and snow flecked the bedroom window, frost spiraling around the glass.

The only thing that hadn't gone back to normal so to speak, was that Cas had begun sleeping over at the Winchesters more often. Practically every night. He now walked with Sam to school and he would go home after but always ended up back at the Winchesters, sitting on the couch, very close to Dean, and eating burgers. Gabriel said it was because they were fucking. Sam rolled his eyes at him.

It was getting closer to Thanksgiving, John Winchester had come home for the holidays. He had resumed his position in his red chair, a beer in one hand and the remote control in the other. He sat there for hours at a time, sometimes not moving until everyone else had gone to bed. Sam hardly ever saw him absent from it. John hardly spoke to his boys. They had exchanged a few words here and there but other than that his eyes were almost always glued to the television screen, he hardly even noticed how often Cas was staying over. It felt odd to Sam to have his father home. The house felt...crowded. Other than holidays the only time John was ever home was at night. Sometimes Sam would get up to go to the bathroom or get a drink of water and he would see his fathers bedroom light on under the door. But other than that those were the only occurrences he had known his father was home.

But the house wouldn't feel crowded for long.

As Sam became stuck on a spot in his writing, he rested his pencil against his paper and Gabriel continued threading his hand through his hair. He closed his eyes and fell back against the touch. "mmm..." he sighed dreamily. It was dark outside, around eleven o'clock at night, the house was sleeping and the only thing that lit up Sams room was his side table lamp. The moon was shaped like a toenail and it illuminated the snow as it fell slowly and thickly, sticking to the frozen ground. It would most likely melt tomorrow morning when the sun came out.

As Gabriel rhythmically petted Sams hair he gazed out the window, watching the snowflakes fall. He seemed distracted by something but the young Winchester didn't notice, he was slowly falling asleep on Gabriels lap.  
"Gabriel," He said sleepily, "Did you ever date anyone besides Kali?"  
"Hmm...?"  
"Who did you go out with when you were alive?"  
"Aw, kiddo, why do they matter? They're all old and probably have kids now anyways."  
"I just wanna know."

Gabriel sighed, looking at the top of his head. "Well...Kali was my first official girlfriend but we didn't last that long. I don't really remember anyone elses names. They're all just blurs. Like, I remember what they looked like and I remember talking with them and getting them to laugh...but they just weren't that important to me I guess."

"What kinda dates did you go on?" Sam yawned.

"Dates? Hmm...I remember going out for ice cream a lot," He then smiled to himself, "I would always get the fudge sundae with gummie worms and cherries on top. It was my favorite. I never bothered to get my drivers license so I couldn't really drive my dates anywhere."

"You never got a drivers license?" Sam laughed drowsily.

"Hey, shut up, all right, I had better things to do. Anyway, I couldn't drive anyway and I wasn't going to have my mom drive me and my date somewhere because that is just lame and would set me barreling down into loserville. So I would usually just take them someplace that was walking distance. I remember going to the movies once. And I think I also had a picnic in the park with someone too."

"How romantic."

"I thought so." Gabriel smirked, gazing out the window, "It was so pretty that day too..."

The ghost became lost in his thoughts as Sams chest began to fall slower and slower, his hand lazily falling beside him and his fingers twitching every so often. The ghosts amber eyes flicked down to the sleeping boy when he noticed that the sound of pencil against paper had silenced for far too long and Sam had silenced. A smile dragged itself across his lips and he slid his finger tips along the side of the teenagers profile. He ran them down his face and his chest. Then raised his hand and rested his palm on his knee, grazing his fingers down his leg and back up again as he watched him sleep. Gabriel thought that Sam looked like a puppy when he slept. He looked so sweet and young. It was adorable.

It was nearly midnight and Gabe was still wide awake with Sam curled up on his lap fast asleep. The snow was still falling in thick blankets, all was quiet until a sudden bang of a door being thrown open woke Sam with a start. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, looking all around.

"Whats going on?"  
"Dunno." Gabriel frowned at Sams bedroom door, waiting to hear another noise. "Maybe Dean left his window open?"  
Sam nodded, ready to except that suggestion and roll over to go back to sleep when he heard his fathers yells come from down the hall.

He was wide awake now and lept out of bed, scrambling to the bedroom door and yanking it open widely, and taking a step outside of his bedroom to gaze down the hall. Gabriel remained on the bed, watching Sam curiously.

"_What the hell are you doing?!" _John yelled over and over again. The door that lead into Deans bedroom was left open, the light switch flipped on but Sam couldn't see what was happening inside. He heard shuffling and something breaking, it sounded like Dean fell out of the bed. Someone was repeating sorry under their breath. It didn't sound like his brothers voice.

"Dad, Dad, calm down it's not that big-"

"You shut your goddamn mouth Dean Winchester." John snapped. "And _you_. I never want to see you set foot inside my house ever again!"

"Yes-yes-sir..." Squeaked a voice. Sam was probably more shocked than he should have been when he witnessed Castiel Novak stumbling out of the room. His black hair was a mess, his cheeks beat red. He was struggling to pull up his pants as he practically fell out of the doorway. His beige trench coat hung off one arm, dragging against the floor. He didn't even notice Sam standing in the hall as he rambled. "I'm so, so, sorry, Mr. Winchester, sir. Really, I am-I-we never meant for you find out-like this-really I'm so sorry I'll-I'll never-"

"_Leave. Castiel."_ John growled from inside the room.

"Right. Right...sorry...sorry...goodbye..." Cas muttered quickly before scrambling down the stairs and flying out the front door, his pants still half way down his legs.

Dean emerged at the doorway, looking down the hall towards the staircase, frowning. His hair was a mess also, he only stood in his boxers. He slammed his hand against the wall. He turned around to face his father and barked, "Dammit, Dad! Why'd you scare him off?!"

"_What_." John growled. "Dean, that is not what we are discussing at the moment. I want to know why the hell I just walked in here to see you and-and Cas-"

"Sucking off?"

There was a loud smack as John hit his son across the face and Sam winced, his eyes watering. The only person alive who could stand up to Dean Winchester was John. Dean could take on anyone he wanted, if anyone rubbed his brother the wrong way Dean would rip them to shreds in a matter of seconds. Everyone except John.

"Dont talk like that in front of me, boy." Their father said sternly.

"Why? Can't handle your son being a homo?"  
"You're not gay, Dean-"  
"Well, we weren't giving each other blow jobs because we're straight, Dad."

Sam watched a hand beat against his older brothers face, Deans face jerking to the side as the loud smack echoed in the young Winchesters ears. Dean grunted under his breath before straightening himself back up, staring his father in the eye. The side of his face looked red with the faint outline of a palm and fingers.

Silence.

"How long has this been going on." John demanded.  
"Months." Dean said without hesitating. "We started dating in June." Sam could hear the smirk in his voice.

"Get out of my goddamn house, Dean."  
Dean laughed cockily. "_Your house_? Dad, you don't live here half the year. This ain't your house, it's mine and Sammys."  
"I said get out. I'm not having Sam grow up around someone like you."

There was a long pause. Sams heart pounded hard against his gut as he dug his nails into his palms, his knuckles feeling numb and white. Tears rimmed his eye sockets. Dean couldn't leave. If Dean left then Sam would be very very alone. It didn't matter if he had Gabriel with him the house wouldn't feel complete without Dean or even Cas around. They were all family. His father couldn't split that up. He didn't have the right. It was like what Dean said to Castiel before about Lucifer; _Just because youre blood doesnt mean you're family. You gotta earn that._ To Sam Winchester, John certainly didn't qualify as earning the right to be called their father.

"Fine." Dean said slowly. Sam bit his lip to keep from gasping as he heard his brother quickly pick up his clothes and then storm out of the room. Unlike Castiel, he spotted his little brother and paused.

"Sammy..." He breathed.

The young Winchester simply shook his head, trying to swallow a sob that was climbing out of his throat. He squeezed his eyes shut as tears flooded down his cheeks. He couldn't look at his brother, the one who raised him. He heard Dean slowly walk up to him and he felt his lips kiss his hair before his calloused hand ruffled the top of his head. "I'm sorry, Sammy. Be good." He whispered as he patted his sixteen year old brothers shoulder.

"Dean, don't."

But his brother was already walking down the staircase.

"Dean." He called louder.

"Go back to bed, Sam." John told him. Sam didn't pay his father any attention. He merely stared down the dark empty hall waiting for any sign of his brother coming back up the steps to fight back with John, to fight to stay here with Sam. But Dean didn't come back. Sam heard the front door open and shut and his heart plummeted into his stomach.

"Dean!" He raced down the steps before his father could stop him and ran outside into the snowy night in his bare feet. The front door was swinging open behind him. Sam saw the Impala roar to life and he ran towards the driveway but Dean was already backing out. He ran to the end of the driveway but by then the yellow back lights of the Imapla were disappearing down the road. They were practically gone by the time he blinked the snow out of his eyelashes. Dean always liked to drive fast when he was angry with no where to go.

"...Sam?"

Gabriel was standing behind him. The snow whirred around the two teenagers in heavy cold blankets. Neither of them knew what to say. Sam finally broke down and ran into Gabriels arms, crying softly into his shoulder. Gabriel ran his hand through the back of Sams hair and just hummed in his ear, trying to calm him down.

"I hate him...I-I hate him!" Sam sputtered, his fingers coiling into tight fists around Gabriels jacket. "I hate him!"

"I know," Gabriel sighed quietly next to Sams ear as he nuzzled his cheek against his hair, "I know you do. Lets go back inside. Okay?"

"He should be the one who leaves!" The teenager nearly shouted it at the top of his voice. He was furious. He was mad at John for kicking Dean out, he was mad at Dean for not picking a fight to stay, he was mad at Cas for not saying goodbye, and he was mad at Gabriel being so calm and not being mad. At the time he didn't know he was being so irrational. His brain felt like a white hot knife was being stabbed into it over and over again as it whirred around. His nose felt like it was on fire as it became stuffed every time he sobbed.

Gabriel talked in a soothing voice, "Shhhh...Shhh, kiddo, its okay, its okay..." He didn't appreciate Sam shouting at him like he was an idiot but he didn't want to upset him anymore. So he just held him tightly and repeated, "Lets go back inside. You're going to loose all your toes if we don't."

Sam just nodded.


	9. Chapter 9: Thanksgiving

**Chapter Nine: Thanksgiving**

The week leading up to Thanksgiving break were miserable for Sam. Dean had called Sam the following afternoon to tell him that he was staying at Uncle Bobbys. Sam begged him to pick him up and take him there as well but Dean told him he couldn't do that, it would just make Dad more mad. He said he would see him on Thanksgiving; John couldn't stop Bobby from bringing him along, and once Dad left for work again Dean would be back. He promised.  
Sam had just sighed and hung up the phone after saying goodbye.

Castiel seemed more awkward at school than usual. When Sam passed him in the hall he wouldn't meet his eyes and he would sort of fold into himself, like he was trying to disappear.

Gabriel did his best to cheer Sam up. In fact, he was so focused on making Sam happy he forgot to worry about Lucifer.  
"Do you want to go outside?" He asked after school one day, peering out the frosty window, "We can go dump water Azazels driveway so it freezes and he busts his face on the way to school tomorrow."  
Sam peered up from his Latin book for a moment and then went back to reading, shaking his head, "Not really."

"Aw, c'mon, kiddo," Gabriel whined, "you don't wanna stay here all day with your dad do you?"

"..No.."  
"Then let's go do something fun! _Come on, Sammich!_ Just 'cause Deans gone doesn't mean we have to stay here all week with your old man and sulk!"

Sam placed his book down on his stomach, his eyes ticking with thought. Gabriel bunched his hands into fists in anticipation, praying that Sam was up for a little mischief.  
Green eyes flicked up to meet gold and a smile filled Sams face.

"All right, Gabriel," He said, "You win."

"Yes!" The ghost pumped a fist in the air, "Lets go raise some hell!"

Sam just laughed as he pulled his coat from his desk chair, "Anything to keep you from destroying the house."  
"All work and no play makes Gabey a bored boy." The ghost shrugged behind him.

Sam walked quietly down the stair steps. His hand was resting on the wall, his body crouched down slightly to peer into the living room. All he could see was the couch and coffee table below. He listened hard but couldn't hear his father making any noise. All he heard was the television dully playing the sports channel.

"Dad's probably asleep," He whispered to his ghost, "I don't wanna wake him up."

"Sam." John called.

"_Shit_." Sam hissed.

"Come down here." he obeyed. Sam stood at the edge of the living room, looking at his father who sat in his red chair. His eyes were focused on the T.V. He didn't even look at Sam when he entered the room. "Who were you talking to?"

"No-No one, Dad...I was just..Talking to myself. I do that...Sometimes."

John snorted a laugh, "Where you off to then?"

"Um, no where special..." Sam rolled his shoulders, "I'm just going on a walk."

"Not going to visit Dean are you?"  
"No, of course not, Dad."  
"I know you've been talking to him on the phone." He paused. Waiting for Sam to chime in but his son didn't respond. His heart was pounding in fear of what his father would do to him, or even Dean. How much did he know? Did he know Dean would be coming over for Thanksgiving? Did he know he was staying with Uncle Bobby? "I told you, Sam, you're not allowed to speak to him."

"I-I know." He squeaked.

"But you have. Haven't you?"  
"Yes, sir."  
"Now tell me, Sam. How am I supposed to believe you when you say you're not going to visit Dean; when I told you not to speak to him, and you've done so anyway behind my back."

Sam didn't have an answer for that.

"Sam." John sat up in his chair and turned around to look at his son.

"I'm-I'm just going for a walk."

They were both quiet for a while until John sank back into his chair, eyes glued to the sports channel. "Don't be gone long."

Sam sighed heavily out of his nose before hurrying out the front door to go find a bucket and fill it with water from the hose.

* * *

Sams white fingers clung onto the handle of the bucket he was carrying. Water sloshed inside as he struggled to make his way towards Azazels house. As he panted, his hot breath could be seen in white wisps in front of his nose caused by the cold air. "Why," His fingers felt like they were breaking, "cant you...carry this...Gabriel..."

"Um, hello," he ratted his knuckles against the top of his head, "I'm invisible remember?! What if one of the neighbors looked out and saw a floating bucket walking around? You want the news to show up at your house, kiddo?"

Sam grunted through his teeth as he tried to shift the bucket to his other hand, waving the other one in the air to get the blood back flowing through his cold fingers. He was practically hobbling down the street while Gabriel was walking behind him, sucking on a Tootsie pop and enjoying the crisp November day. Sam had a strong urge to just dump the cold water over him. But he decided against it given that he could spot Azazels house just ahead and he would much rather see him slip on the ice rather than waste it on Gabriel. It probably would phase right through him anyways.

"You know, Gabriel," He huffed, "I just realized something. And since I'm dating you, I'm probably more surprised by this fact than I should be..."

"What are you talking about?"

"Our first date is going to prank somebody."

Gabriel just laughed.

They crossed the street to walk towards the light yellow two story house that was three houses down from the corner. It was quite big, bigger than the Winchesters but smaller than Gabriels old house. It had a round window in the attic and the garage door was closed with no cars parked in the driveway, and there were bicycles propped up along the side of the house. The mailbox stuck out from behind bushes that sat in front of their white picket fence that only surrounded the front of the yard.

"You sure he lives here?" Gabriel asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Sam set the bucket down on the sidewalk with sweet relief, "He invited me to his birthday party in second grade. I found out that he didn't invite me 'cause he wanted to, his mom had made him because he had invited every other boy in the class except me. He told me this when all the other kids were trying to bash open the pinata and he wouldn't let me take my turn. I almost cried and then I had to call Dean to come walk over and get me. Azazel hasn't let me live that down since."

Gabriel folded his arms over his chest after taking the Tootsie pop out of his mouth momentarily to whistle lowly, "What a dick. Even as a seven year old he was a major asshat, huh?"

Sam giggled, "Yeah, he was. But whatever...Where do you think I should dump this water?"

"Hmmm..." The paper end of the sucker twiddled in the ghosts mouth as he moved the candy around in his mouth. He shoved it to the side as he spoke, looking like a lopsided chipmunk, "dump it right on the corner right here," He pointed to the ground, "When we come back we'll get him running out here."

"We're coming back?" Sam huffed as he tipped the bucket over, cold water drowned the sidewalk.

"Well, of course," Gabriel said matter of factly, "we gotta see the doofus kiss the sidewalk don't we? And we can't wait here all day for this stuff to freeze. We'll find something else to do to pass the time."

"Whatever you say, Gabe." He smirked and sat back to see the dark wet spot covering the sidewalk. He slung the handle of the bucket in the crook of his elbow and looked to the ghost, "Well, now what do you wanna do?"

Gabriel shrugged, "Whatever you wanna do is fine by me. Any ideas?"

Sam tapped his finger to his chin, wracking his brains for any ideas to go on a date with an invisible teenager. A light bulb when off in his brain when he remembered something Gabriel had told him the other day. He could barely contain the grin creeping up his face as he turned to him and asked, "Wanna go get some ice cream?"

Gabriels eyes sparked.

* * *

The two walked the long walk to the ice cream parlor. The whole way there Gabriel talked about how ecstatic he was that he was going to be able to eat his favorite sundae again. He told Sam his mouth was watering at the thought of it.  
When they arrived Gabriel practically squealed with excitement. Sam tried to hide a giggle as he walked inside. When he ordered the ice cream Gabriel was bouncing on his heels with anticipation. The woman behind the counter looked at him funny when he ordered two ice creams when there was clearly only one of him, but she didn't question him. She handed him the pistachio ice cream cone and Gabriels sundae and he handed her the rest of his allowance in his pocket. She told him to have a nice day. He told her to have one too.

When he and the ghost rounded the corner he handed him the sundae and Gabriel had to restrain himself from shoving it all in his mouth at once. He took a bite and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Swaying to the side as though the flavors were so mouth watering they were making him feel faint. "Mmmm..." He sighed dreamily, "amazing."

"Is it as good as you remember?" Sam asked, licking his ice cream with a smirk.

"Absolutely!" Gabriel said with a full mouth, "I'm tellin' yah kiddo, don't take crap like this for granted," he swallowed and popped a gummie worm into his mouth, "it sucks bein' dead. All these little things turn into...these _big_ things. And you don't think you miss them but..." He trailed off. Sam just smiled and grabbed onto the end of his jacket, pulling him along and saying, "C'mon, you big dork. We'll take the long way home, okay?"

Gabriel smiled back, letting Sam drag him along towards a back way path were there were hardly any houses. They would eventually get their way back to Azazels house it would just take longer. They would also have to pass by the graveyard that Gabriel had ran to all those years ago to escape from his brother.

By the time the graveyard was in veiw, Gabriels face was stained with fudge and he was now working on what was left of Sams ice cream cone. Sam had given it to him when he said he was too full to eat the rest of it. The ghost wasn't about to refuse to it. Even if it was pistachio.

They were walking past the graveyard when Gabriel suddenly stopped. Sam was in the middle of telling him about the one time he and Dean had snuck into see Silence of the Lambs and it was one of the biggest mistakes of their lifes. Sam was eight and Dean was twelve. They left when Sam started hiding under the theater seats halfway through and decided that they would never sneak into see a rated R movie ever again.

"-It was so traumatizing!" Sam laughed, not realizing he was talking to himself, "'course now we can laugh about it. But when I was little it was about the freakiest thing I had ever seen. I think I shared a bed with my brother for two weeks. Of course we couldn't tell Uncle Bobby or our dad about what had bothered us so bad because they would kill us. I thought Hannibal Lector was in my closet and he was going to bite my nose off when I was sleeping. Pretty stupid huh? Gabriel? Hey where did you-" He turned around on the spot to see he had left the ghost standing a ways back. He was clinging onto the chain link fence with one hand, staring out at the millions of gray tombstones in front of him. Sam jogged back to him.

"...Whats up?" He asked softly.

"I'm buried here." He replied.

"...Oh..."

For a long time the two just stood there. Sams stomach twisted with the thought that somewhere in this graveyard, Gabriels body rested under the grass and dirt and earthworms. It was strange. Gabriel was here, standing next to him, holding a melting ice cream cone in his fist and chocolate fudge surrounding his mouth. It was like there were two Gabriels. One was alive, here, with Sam, and the other was dead. Sam had never met this one.

"I want to go inside." Gabriel said blankly.  
"Okay."

So they did

As they walked pass all of the tombstones the names flashed by Sams eyes, looking for Gabriels plot. Some of the graves had fresh flowers in front of them, others looked abandoned and dusty. People that had been forgotten about after so many years. They didn't really talk to one another as they searched. They would exchange a few words when they would come across interesting pieces of writing carved into the stones and read it aloud to the other, but other than that neither of them spoke until they found Gabriels grave.

Sam was the one to stumble across it. It was at the bottom of the small hill, it wasn't too far away from the entrance but it also wasn't close. The stone was rounded at the top and it was weathered down from years of rain and sun, but the name was still clear as day.  
_Gabriel Novak_  
_1971-1986_  
_Rest in peace, my angel_, it read.

"Gabriel," Sam called to him, "I found-" the ghost was at his side before he could blink.

The wind was all who spoke.

Sam stared down at the plot, his heart pounding in his stomach. Gabriel was laying underneath his feet at the moment. His cold lifeless body was rotting beneath him. Sams head felt dizzy as he tried to comprehend this. The whole thing was just wild. Gabriel was so real to him he felt alive most of the time. Sam often had to remind himself that he was a ghost. He was dead.  
Sam wasn't even sure what dead meant anymore. Gabriel; who was good as dead could be, was the move alive and animated person Sam had ever met.  
He looked over to the ghost who was staring at the grave as though he was waiting for his own decaying arm to pop out of the ground and make a grab for their ankles. But nothing happened. Sam slowly turned back to look at the tombstone, a heaviness in his heart as a realization dawned on him.

He was going to die someday too.

He gritted his teeth and pressed his fingernails into his palms, trying to distract himself from thinking the unthinkable by rereading the carved words on the gray stone in front of him over and over again.

Gabriels voice broke the silence, "Pretty weird, huh?" he said, "Never thought I'd be visiting my own grave. Not once did I think of doin' this..." He sighed, trying to smile. Sam didn't comment. "You okay, kiddo?" The ghost bumped into his shoulder playfully.

"What are we doing, Gabriel." He finally said in a dull robot like drone, staring hard at the plot.

"What?" Gabriel asked as his eyebrows knitted together.

"I said what are we doing...why are we doing this?"  
"Doing what, Sam?"  
"Why are we together. You're a ghost. I'm alive. I'm going to keep getting older. You're going to stay the same. People are going to wonder why I'm never dating anyone, why I never seem interested in going out and why I wear a necklace around my neck with a name that isn't mine...It's not going to work, Gabe."

"Don't say that." There was a catch in the seventeen year olds throat. "Don't you dare say that, Sam. We're making it work just fine. I thought you liked me. I thought you liked what we were doing."

Sam turned to face him, his eyes glossy, "I do like you. I do like what we're doing. What we're doing is amazing," he reached out to clasp his hand, "I...I love you, Gabriel."

The caramel eyes Sam looked into flashed as the words left his lips. "I love you too." Gabriel said breathly.

Sam smirked but almost instantly his face fell again. "Which is why we can't be together, Gabe."

"What are you talking about, asshat?" Gabriel was getting a little ticked at the way Sam was talking about their relationship. He tugged his hand away from Sams grasp,"What do you want me to do? Do you want me to leave? I'm-I'm confused, Sam..."

"No, I-I don't want you to leave..."  
"Then what is it?"

"What about when I die." Sam whispered. "Say we get spend my whole life together and I die in my sleep. I wont be a ghost, Gabe."

Gabriels face paled as he thought of this. He hadn't necessarily ever thought of his and Sams future. He only thought of the present. He could never even put himself in a place of thinking Sam could die. He, Gabriel, was already dead and therefore immortal. Sam on the other hand...he was vulnerable. "Don't think about that." Gabriel said weakly. "Dont."

"It's going to happen." Sams voice squeaked, "One day I'm going to die, Gabriel! And maybe I wont die a violent death. If I don't then I won't be a ghost like you and we won't be together and you'll be alone!"

"Shut up, Sam." Gabriel growled under his breath.

"I want to be a ghost like you, Gabriel!"  
"Shut up, Sam!."  
"Why not?" Sams bottom lip quivered slightly, his eyes becoming red rimmed, "why can't I? Then we can be together forever right? My dad thinks I'm a disgrace, I won't have to keep letting Dean down all the time. He won't have to worry about me anymore he can just worry about Cas. No one needs me here. I'm a freak, Gabriel."

Gabriel had to hold back the urge to smack the boy, the louder his voice got the taller he seemed to become (he was really just floating higher and higher the more frustrated he got). "Don't talk like that, dammit!" He shouted, fingers digging into the boys arms, "Sam, you are important. You have a brother who loves you and cares about you. Cas loves you too and that's even better. Who gives a shit if your dad doesn't like you, no one likes him. He's a sack of shit who hits his kid and his opinion on you doesn't mean anything. You're anything but a freak, Sam. You're smart, and kind, and sweet. You're a _good kid_, Sam. And I'll keep you from killing yourself if its the last god damn thing I do. I don't care if you want to be ghost. It's miserable. Everyone around you is alive. Everyone is getting older and having kids and you're..._stuck_. It's not all what it's cracked out to be, Sammy cakes. I'd rather have you alive. I am not going to let you go all fucking Shakespeare on me, Sam Winchester."

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry, Gabriel..."

"Yeah, well you fucking should be," Gabriels voice was softer now, his face was closer to Sams, "We're not going to end up like those saps Romeo and Juliet. I'll be damned to hell before that happens."

Sams face split into a small smirk as his eyes flicked away from the ground to look at Gabriel; holding his face and floating in the air, his legs tucked up behind him, "I always hated that play." He said.

Gabriel snorted and smiled before kissing Sams nose. "Me too...C'mon, kiddo, lets get back to Azazels house..."

* * *

"You sure it'll work?" Sam asked, sliding one foot along the patch of ice, "It doesn't seem slippery enough."

"It'll work," Gabriel told him, "Now we just gotta get him outside somehow."

"Wait, what?" Sam was alarmed now, "We're calling him outside?"

"Of course." The ghost said this as though this was the plan the entire time.

"Well-what if he sees me?! You're the one whos invisible!"

Gabriel grinned, pulling up the hood on Sams hoodie and flopping it over his shaggy hair. He then tugged on the strings to tighten it. "He won't catch you."

"I swear to god, Gabriel if-"  
"Keep your pants on, kiddo. Just relax and let good ol' Gabriel here take care of it."  
"Oh, yeah, I'm so relaxed now." He rolled his eyes.

"Shut up I'm tryin' to think...Hmm...Let's see..." He bent down and scooped up a handful of slush and tossed it at the house. It soared into the air and then fell down with a plop just over the fence.  
Sam snorted with laughter.  
"Shut up." Gabriel pouted, "You got any better ideas?"

"We could try to steal his bike," Sam pointed.

"Hmm..." Gabriel squinted in thought, "That just might work, Samsquatch. Go grab it."  
"Why me?!"  
"He can see you, remember? Then, while you're grabbing the bike, I'll go grab Azazels attention. He'll come running after you so you gotta ditch the bike and then when he comes around the corner to chase after you-BAM! His ass is grass! Or ice more like."

Sam sighed hard but went along with Gabriels plan.  
They manned their stations.  
Sam had his hands wrapped around the bike handlebars and his eyes were locked on Gabriel who was hovering over the windows, peering inside. When he spotted Azazel inside a room and looked to Sam and gave him a thumbs up. Sams insides squirmed a little. He never pranked anyone before, what if he messed up? Why was it that Gabriel was so much more experienced than him at everything? Dating, kissing, pranking. But his ghost was also teaching him all these things. All these things Sam hadn't done while staying cooped up in his bedroom writing monster stories in his green notebook while his brother and Cas where downstairs making out. Sam and Gabriel had that in common, he guessed. They both spent a great deal of twelve years hiding themselves from the world by staying cooped up in their bedrooms. Alone.

_Gabriel is pretty great_, Sam thought as he watched the ghost pound on the window with his fist, _I don't know what'd I do without him_.

In the next moment Sam saw Azazels face appear in the window. It didn't take long for him to spot Sam walking off with his bike and Sam watched him mouth a soundless, "Hey!" before turning to run out the door. Sam ran with the bike for a few more steps before pushing it aside and running for the end of the driveway. The front door opened and slammed shut behind him.  
Azazel probably wasn't far behind him now, Sam was sprinting. He rounded the corner, making sure not to run over the ice.  
Gabriel was waiting for him at the end of the street, moving his arms towards him to urge Sam to run faster. He could hear Azazel swearing and shouting behind him. Sam couldn't help himself, he had to look over his shoulder.  
Azazel was running full speed after him, not even slowing his pace a little bit as he rounded the corner. His feet pulled out from under him as he hit the ice and fell flat on his face.

Gabriel and Sam hooted with laughter as they ran home.  
Sam never knew pranking could taste so sweet.

* * *

Thanksgiving day was, nonetheless, awkward.

It was a snowy Thanksgiving, different from the year before. John baked a turkey and mashed potatoes and because he couldn't stand being a part from his favorite chair Sam made the rest of the food. Which included; corn, roasting the bread rolls, baked beans, stuffing, corn bread and cranberries. Uncle Bobby and Dean were bringing the pecan and pumpkin pies along with some beers for Bobby and John to share.

It's usually how it goes every Thanksgiving, except Dean is usually around to help Sam with the cooking. Gabriel did his best to help but got distracted by all the food and Sam had to shoo him off for picking at it to get nibbles. Sam remembered how last year Dean had stolen two beers while Uncle Bobby and John had fallen asleep watching the football game. They sat on Deans bed and his older brother tossed him the cold can. Sam stared down at it like it was answers to a test he didn't study for and someone was pressuring him to cheat. Dean had cracked a smile when he saw the look on his little brothers face.

"Go on. One beer won't kill yah. C'mon we'll toast." He popped back the tab and a hissing sound erupted from the can. Sam smirked and did the same, his beer foamed a little at the top after he opened it. The brothers clinked their beers together and said, "_Cheers!" _

"Happy Thanksgiving, Sammy." Dean said before tilting his head back and taking a swig. Sam looked down the tab hole into his beer can. The beer looked brown and smelled weird. Sam tried to think of the last time he ate something that was brown and it tasted good. _Chocolate is brown,_ he thought. He shrugged and brought the cold can to his lips, taking a big gulp as the stuff swam down his throat. He gagged as the acidy taste burned his tongue and throat. He coughed and pounded his fist against his chest to keep him from choking on the stuff. Dean picked his head up and laughed.

"That tastes like piss." Sam sputtered, still clasping the cold alcohol in his hand. The older Winchester threw back his head with laughter, smacking his little brother on the back hard.

When Uncle Bobby arrived with Dean, John simply glared at them from his chair. "Hey, John," Bobby smiled. "Its been a while."

"It has." John replied, his voice had a cold hard tone to it. The two friends shook hands as Dean walked into the kitchen and placed the two pies on the counter. Sam saw him and ran up to hug him around the middle like he always used to. But when he reached Dean he realized he had grown quite a bit since the last time they had hugged. Granted the last time that had been was when Sam was maybe eight years old, but Sam now dwarfed Dean. He hadn't noticed how tall he actually was, most likely because the only other person he really compared his height to was Gabriel, and Gabe had always been a shorty. Sam had been taller than him since as long as hes known him and Sam knew he had been going through a growth spurt, he just never thought he'd be as tall as his big brother, not to mention taller.

Dean seemed a little surprised too when his giant of a brother wrapped his arms around his shoulders in a Sasquatch hug. Dean chuckled and pushed his not so little brother off of him, messing up his hair. "Nice to see you too, Sammy."

"Dean, please come home..Its..Its terrible not having you here!" Sam whispered so the adults in the next room wouldn't hear.

"Aww, you miss me?" Dean smirked, looking over all the food on the table greedily, licking his watering mouth.

"Dean, I'm being serious!" The younger Winchester pressed. "Dads been...weird the past few days."

Green eyes flicked off the table to meet the hazel that were staring at him with an odd sort of expression. Fear. "What do you mean; weird?"

Sam took a deep breath, he could feel Gabriels presence behind him. The air had suddenly turned colder than it should be and Sam knew that was a sign of his ghost being angry. The past few days that Dean had been absent; they had been rough on Sam. The boy rubbed the sore spot on his arm gingerly with his hand before sighing and saying, "he...he's been drinking a lot since you left...sometimes...its like its not even him here. It wasn't so bad the first two days but then..then he kept getting mad. He was getting mad at things that...I dunno-like he yelled at me the other day for-for I don't even know what...I can't even remember it. His voice was all slurred and drunk..." Sams sentence fell into the air as he rubbed his arm harder. The bruising pain crawling across his body.

Dean noticed his wincing and grabbed his arm, harder than he intended to and jerked it towards him, causing Sams breath to hitch and his eyes to water. Dean glanced at him seriously before yanking up his brothers sweater sleeve to show a yellowish purple-black bruise blooming at Sams elbow and crawling up towards his shoulder.

Gabriel breathed a hard sigh out of his nose.

"He did this to you, Sammy?" Dean asked roughly, meeting the young Winchesters eyes.

"Its-its nothing, Dean..." Sam shook his head.

"Sam." Gabriel growled in his ear. "Your father hurt you. No one has the right to hurt you like that. Tell your brother the truth. _I can't_."

Tears welled in Sams eyes and he attempted to blink them away, he'd be damned to hell before he cried in front of Dean. He took a shaky breath and turned his gaze to the floor. "I'm fine, Dean." He said softly.

"Don't bullshit me, Sam." Dean retorted, releasing his arm."Your arm looks like a freaking blackberry patch. Don't tell me you're fine, I know you."

Sams only reply was to look to the floor as Gabriel hovered above his shoulder now, frustrated. "_Sam."_ He huffed. "Sam Winchester I swear to God. You're making excuses for that sack of shit."

"It was only one time." He mumbled.

"That doesn't mean anything." Gabriel reminded him.

Dean tried to meet his brothers eyes, his eyebrows knitting together in fury. "Do you feel unsafe, Sam." It was more of a demand than a question. When the young Winchester didn't answer Dean cupped his face and made him look at him. "Do you feel unsafe." He repeated more sternly now.

"No." Sam said numbly, the word falling out of his mouth like lead.

"Thats it." Dean straightened up and turned on his heel to head to the living room.

"What are you doing?" Sam gasped.

"I'm calling the cops on that douche."  
"Dean, no!" Sam ran up hurriedly and grabbed his arm. "Dean, if you call them they'll take me away. They won't let me stay with you. You're a high school drop out working at a garage..." The tears finally began to fall down Sams face. "They're going to take me away from you. Please. Dad will be back to work soon. He'll leave and you can come back and so can Cas, and everything will be back to normal. Just please..."

Dean stood in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room. Staring at his little brother for a long time before running a calloused hand through his sandy hair and sighing. "Fine." He said. "But if he hurts you one more time before he leaves..."

Sam just smiled and hugged him again. "Thanks, Dean."

"Okay, okay, whats with all the hugging? Get off me gigantor." The older brother teased.

Thanksgiving dinner was the quietest its ever been in years. No one spoke after Uncle Bobby said grace. The only thing that could be heard was the scraping of silverware against glass or the clink of a glass against wood. Every once in a while someone would murmur for someone else to please pass the butter or could they hand over the stuffing.

Sam didnt want Uncle Bobby and his older brother to leave that night. When they bid their goodbyes he hung back by the staircase and kept quiet. Gabriel was rubbing his shoulder and whispering in his ear, promising that everything would be okay. Sam tried to believe him, but the truth was he didn't want to spend one more second in the house with John, but he felt like he had to be brave. He had to be brave like Dean.

The two left the Winchester house and Sam sighed heavily. Gabriel coiled his hand around his boyfriends as they turned to walk up the stairs to Sams bedroom. Gabe was still talking soothingly to him, telling him not to worry, it was only a few more days. But the two were stopped when a gruff voice called out, "Sam."

He turned at the sound of his name, looking back down the stairs at his father, hiss eyes glassy. "Yeah, Dad?"

"Did you know that that faggot was coming over here tonight."

Sam was puzzled for a moment before he realized that he was talking about Dean. He didn't like his father using that term to refer to his older brother. It made his stomach feel icy hot and his hand clenched against Gabriels, squeezing it harder than he meant to. "No," he lied, "I didn't know."

John chuckled darkly. "I know you're lying, boy. Don't lie. Now why didn't you tell me he was coming? Why did you let him come into our house."

Sam sucked in a breath to settle his raging stomach. "I didn't know he was coming." He said slowly, lying through his teeth.

John glared at him through drunken eyes. He paced up two steps on the staircase and before Sam could squirm away he had him clasped in his grasp, muttering that Sam needs to learn his lesson. Gabriel was shouting as their hands slipped out of grasp and John tugged Sam down the stairs. Sam fought back this time. He swung a giant fist at the mans face, sending him stumbling backwards.

On the staircase Gabriel's mouth dropped open and he breathed out a "whoa...kiddo.."

Sam shook his hand as John straightened himself a fire now lit furiously in his eyes. Sam had started feeling a little cocky once he realized he had actually clocked the old man one. He raised his other fist to hit him again but John had brought an empty beer bottle down upon Sams head, smashing it to pieces as the boy cringed.

"Sam!" Gabriel shouted, swooping down from the staircase in a fit of rage. He was suddenly standing in between Sam and John and for a moment Sam thought that maybe John could see the ghost. He had a look of surprise and fear on his face before Gabriel socked him an uppercut to the jaw and sent him falling backwards, knocking him out cold. The ghost spun around, panting. "You okay, kiddo?"

Sam moaned, clutching his head. He removed his hand and looked down, his face paling as he saw his palm stained with scarlet. His knees felt week and he could feel them collapsing under him but Gabriel caught him before he could fall. "Whoa, there, Sam...it's okay. Don't faint on me, kiddo..." He wrapped Sams arm around his shoulders and clung tight to the teenagers side. "C'mon...I'll take care of you."

* * *

John was gone after two days.

Sam was so excited he called Uncle Bobby up as soon as he realized his father was absent from both his chair and his bedroom. Uncle Bobby said that Dean was still sleeping but he would pass along the message as soon as he woke up. Sam told him thanks and hung up the phone.

"So we have the house to ourselves?" Gabriel sat up in the bed when Sam had returned. His blonde hair was practically sticking up straight. He always managed to have a terrible bed head.

"Don't get any ideas," Sam smirked, sitting down at his desk and pulling his backpack into his lap, "I have a ton of homework to do."

"_Ughhh_," Gabriel flopped dramatically down onto the bed, "homework is so gross."

Sam just rolled his eyes and thumbed through the contents in his bag, looking for his history folder, "Just go back to sleep, Casper. I got stuff to do."

Gabriel frowned at the ceiling, "But I'm wide awake!" He exclaimed.  
"Mmm..." Sams pencil scratched at the paper, his attention now casted on his schoolwork. Gabriel wasn't happy about that.  
He groaned, "Can't we do something?"  
"No."  
"But I'm bored!"  
"Already?"  
"Yes!"  
"Sorry."

Gabriel just growled again, flipping back on his side to glare at Sam.  
He was stuck in the homework vortex now, there was no drawing him out. Gabriel had attempted doing so many times, not one of his previous tactics had worked. So, grumpily, Gabriel swung his legs over the bed and walked across the room to the door mumbling, "I'm goin' downstairs."

"Kay."

Gabriel snapped his fingers when he arrived in the kitchen, flipping on the radio that rested on the counter. After the sound of Kansas singing Carry on Wayward Son began to fill the house he reached up to the top cabinet to get out the giant bowl of candy Sam and his brother kept hidden up there.  
The ghost could be perfectly content with eating candy by himself, he decided. He threw himself onto the couch in the living room, propping his feet up on the coffee table, and tossing a chocolate Hersey's kiss into his mouth.

Gabriel had probably turned into such an attention whore because he had been by himself for so long. The real world was just inches away from his grasp, but he could never get a hold of it. For twelve long years only one emotion was familiar to him: bored. Oh, god, how he was bored. Sure, Halloween time was a little fun whenever anyone was brave enough to come inside, but every other time of the year Gabriel was alone. When he was first a ghost and his family had just moved out he was very depressed. He wouldn't leave his room and would often fiddle and play with his old stuff; just to do something. He thought a lot. He often thought about how he died, which would send him curling up on the floor as though he could still feel the glass cutting into him. Sometimes he swore he was able to.  
To distract himself he would try to remember the happy times he had shared with his siblings in this house. This made him miss them terribly but it was better than the latter.

Of course over the years the memory of his death still lingered in the back of his mind but he had become somewhat numb to it. He learned not to think about it as much.  
For twelve years Gabriel felt as though he had been in a dark place. The memory of being in the Oak house felt like he had just been stuck in a corner all this time. It all changed when he met Sam. It was like Gabriel had been stuck in a dark corner all this time only to have someone finally place a hand on his shoulder. And when Gabriel turned around, there was Sams smiling face. Sam was laughing and saying, "C'mon, you asshat..."  
Gabriel had turned around, and there was light.

A loud thump from upstairs startled him. He had apparently dozed off without knowing. He felt drowsy and a million candy wrappers that he didn't remember eating were littered across his lap. When he had woken the radio had buzzed to a stop.

Another thump.

"Sammich?" He called, rubbing his eyes, "what the hell are you doing up there?"

"Gab-" Sams voice was suddenly cut off, but his tiny strangled cry had the ghost up on his feet in an instant. Something was wrong.

His heart raced as he darted like a bullet back upstairs into Sams bedroom where the window was open, letting snow and cold air whir inside. Sams posters and papers rattled restlessly with the surprise of the wind. Sam was no where in sight. It took him approximately five seconds to get here. Where on earth could Sam had gone in five seconds?

Gabriels eyes were wide with terror now. There were spots of crimson staining the history homework he had been working on. Gabriel ran to the window in a sort of desperate hope that he could still make a grab for his boy. But all he saw was the white fluffy snow. No tracks. No blood. No Sam. Nothing. The cold had never really bothered Gabriel until now. It stung his cheeks and he actually shivered when the flakes peppered his skin. This room had been so warm and full of life just a little bit ago. Now it resembled something like the Oak house. Cold. Quiet. Lonely.  
_No, no, no, _Gabriels heart was throbbing, _I just got him back. I just came back you can't take him from me. You can't do that!_  
"Sam!" His voice echoed around the block. But no one could hear him. The one person who was able to hear him was gone. "Sam!" His eyes were watering now. He sucked in a deep breath and screamed out, "SAM!"  
Still nothing.  
"Sam..." The house was screaming with silence.  
The light was gone again.


	10. Chapter 10: Dude, That's My Ghost!

**Chapter Ten: Dude, That's My Ghost!**

Gabriel sat with his head in his hands on the floor of Sams room. It was so quiet.  
He was so scared.  
He felt so stupid for forgetting about Lucifers threat, it had been so long now that he didn't think his brother would actually go through with it. He was just waiting for the right moment to strike apparently. Now Sam was out there somewhere with Lucifer, possibly bleeding, scared, and Gabriel still couldn't find it in him to stand up to his brother.

He almost wished he had never come back here in the first place. If it meant that Sam would be safer. Perhaps if he would have stayed he would have kept Lucifer occupied, even if his brother didn't want him around he still would have made an excellent punching bag and if it meant that Sam would be away from his brothers claws he would have dealt with it through blood and tears. But he had reacted through fear and anger. He had left to protect Sam from here. That plan had flunked.  
But even if he _had _stayed at the Oak house there was still a possibility of Lucifer keeping his own promise and hurting Sam no matter what Gabriel did to keep him at bay. Lucifer was unpredictable like that.

He wondered if he should have told Sam about Lucifers threat in the first place. He had neglected telling him for quite some time now and look where it got him. If he had told him Sam could have been prepared for an attack. He could have read something in that monster book of his and figured out how to stop the other ghost. Sam was so smart.  
Gabriel was so stupid.

He should have been there, he should have been with Sam. He should have been protecting him like he had promised himself he would.

_But you didn't, _He reminded himself, _you weren't here for him. Even if you were you would have ran off and hid anyways. Wouldn't you. Lucifer was right, you are pathetic._

His stomach was twisting with anxiety more and more until it was a tight coil withering inside of him. The sound of the clock ticking panged so hard against his eardrums they felt raw. Gabriel wished he could just sit and wait for all of this to go away but he knew that wouldn't help. Gabriel felt so selfish. Sam was probably putting all his hope into having Gabriel come to his rescue, but the ghost just couldn't. He was coward when it came to his brother. He was always running away. Always running when Micheal and Lucifer fought, running when Lucifer caught him and Balthazar, and running when he threatened to hurt Sam. Always running.

There was just something inside him that wouldn't let him bring himself to the point of hurting his family. It was like he was being held back by a string that was on the verge of breaking, but no matter how hard he tugged it just wouldn't break. No matter what he told himself he was always going to be tied up, and Lucifer was always going to be on the other side of the room, taunting him.

"I'm so sorry, Sam." Gabriel cried into his palms, "I'm so sorry..."

* * *

Sam woke up in a pitch black room.  
His head was throbbing horribly and he felt a little dizzy. He tried to remember what had happened but the last thing he remembered was doing his homework and calling for Gabriel to turn the music down. Everything seemed fuzzy after that.  
He tried to move but found that his limbs were bound to a chair. He squinted, trying to help his eyes adjust to the dark but he couldn't even see his nose in front of his face.

His throat felt raspy and dry, like he had just spent a few hours screaming his lungs out at a rock concert.

Adrenaline pumped in his veins as he wondered where the hell he was and how the hell he got here and why the hell his head hurt and his throat was so dry. He tried shouting out for Gabriel but it only came out as a little croak.

How long had he been out? Was Gabriel even here?

Heart pumping with anxiety and panic, he squirmed against the rough rope holding his body against the chair. The twine cut against his wrists roughly at his escape attempt. Fingers fumbled over the knot behind him. If he could just reach the knot he might be able to untie himself-

Footsteps.

There was someone else in the room.

His first thought was Gabriel and his heart soared with relief as he croaked out another, "Gabriel-" But it wasn't him.

The click, click, click, of shoes hitting tile bounced off the walls all around them. When the man didn't respond to Gabriels name Sams heart sunk in terror. He couldn't see the man, but if it wasn't Gabriel it couldn't be someone Sam would want to see.

He couldn't see where the man was but he could feel his presence very close to him. Sam stopped breathing for a moment. His wide eyes buzzing all around him, looking for any sign of attacking.  
He could hear him breathing.

They were low, soft breaths. But he was breathing loud enough for Sam to hear him on purpose. He wanted to let him know exactly where he was. Right in front of him.

It suddenly felt colder than it had before and Sam shivered slightly as the cold crept up his spine like a slowly inching frozen caterpillar. His finger continued to fumble with the knot.

"Sam Winchester." The owner of the footsteps finally spoke. His voice was like his breath. Slow and soft. "What a pleasure to finally meet you."

Sam wasn't sure how to respond. A million questions rambled into his mind, begging him to be asked first.  
_Where am I?_  
_Who are you?_  
_How do you know my name?_  
_Do I know you?_  
_Where's Gabriel?_  
_Why am I here?_

But Sam just sat there wordlessly. His mouth hung open and his eyes looked in the direction of the voice but nothing came out. His heart pounded hard against his eardrums and the creeping cold caterpillar inched its way over his body to freeze his insides as well.

"If you're wondering why you're here you can thank your boyfriend for that," drawled the voice.

A rush of adrenaline warmed his heart back up and he suddenly found his voice again.  
"What'd you do with Gabriel?" Sams voice cracked. It hurt to speak.

"Oh, don't you worry, Sammy," The mans ice cold fingers suddenly pushed themselves out of the darkness to grasp themselves around Sams cheeks. They squished his mouth hard and he winced at the pinch. The man held them there as he continued to speak, "I haven't done anything to little Gabey. He's safe. For now. But I'll bet he's up at your house arguing with himself over whether or not to come save you." The man then chuckled darkly to himself, releasing his frozen claws off of Sams face. "And if he's dumb enough to think he actually stands a chance against me, I'll be here waiting for him."

The click of his footsteps began to walk in the opposite direction, away from Sam.

"What do you mean?" The boy coughed. His cheeks were practically stinging from the feeling of ice against his warm skin.

The footsteps stopped.  
There was a long drawn out pause and for a moment Sam thought perhaps his kidnapper had left. The voice made him jump.

"I _mean_, dear Sammy, that there will be one of two things taking place here. One; Gabriel comes here to save you. While trying to rescue you I kill him. Two; I will give him at least a week to show up. If he doesn't, I kill _you_."

His heart panged against his ribs.  
He didn't like either of these plans.

"What do you have against Gabriel?" He hissed, throat burning, "who are you anyway?!"

The man laughed again. "Oh, my precious boy. My brother sure does know how to pick them doesn't he?"

_Brother?_  
_"Lucifer."_  
_"_Bingo." Lucifers lips popped against the 'b'.  
Sams eyes grew wide as a heavy weight rested in the pit of his stomach. He felt as though he should say more, he wanted to know how he could hear the ghost without touching an old object of his, but his throat was clamped tight and his tongue suddenly felt too big for his mouth. His brain rang a loud buzzing sound against his ears. The room suddenly seemed too hot and too stuffy for Sam. He couldn't breathe. He needed to get out right now. He needed to leave. He needed someone to save him.  
He was trapped in a too dark room with a murderer.  
He suddenly felt as though he was eight years old again; staring into the darkness of his bedroom, waiting for Hannibal Lector to jump out at him and eat his nose while classical music played in the background.

The tips of his fingers grazed against the knot of rope behind him.

"Well, Sammy, I do hope your knight in shinning armor comes to save you soon. I would hate to have to kill such a pretty face."

The room was plunged into silence and Sam assumed that Lucifer had left at last. He prayed Gabriel would come soon. But at the same time, he hoped he wouldn't. Gabriel had been killed, and then beaten up by Lucifer before. It didn't exactly seem that the younger brother would trump the elder judging by these facts. He also noted the fact that Gabriel had even told him that he was a wimp when it came to facing his brother. He could take on anyone except family.  
If Gabriel came to rescue the boy, Sam wondered if he would end up running home ghost less.

His heart burned with hope inside his cold chest. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to picture himself back in his bedroom with Gabriel. He was laying on Sams mattress, tossing the bouncy ball up in the air and then catching it when it fell back down. His mouth was moving as he grinned, but Sam couldn't hear any words. Candy wrappers littered the floor below him.  
Sam wished he could hold him. He wished he would have kissed him one last time.  
He just wanted everything to be back to normal.  
_Normal. When was the last time anything was normal?_

* * *

The front door opened and swung shut.

Gabriel jumped, his head shooting up in alarm.

"Sammy," Dean called, "I'm home! I brought Cas too-"  
"And _I_ brought pizza!" Chimed Castiel.

"Oh, no," Gabriel mumbled under his breath, "_Dean_."

It hadn't even dawned on him that Dean would be returning to this house with no brother to welcome him back. What would Dean do when he realized Sam was gone? He'd call the police and demand a search probably.

_They would never find him in time._  
Gabriel swallowed against the lump in his throat when he thought this. He shouldn't be thinking things like that.

"Sam," Deans voice carried all around the house, "Why is our candy all over the living room?"

No one was there to answer him.

Gabriel had to bite his lip to keep from sobbing. God, he felt terrible. He couldn't stand hearing this. Dean was going to come up into Sams bedroom and see no one here. He was going to search the whole house, hell, he'll probably search the entire country and Gabriel knew, he just knew that Dean was never going to see his baby brother again.  
Gabriel clasped his hands over his ears as he heard Dean call his brothers name again. He wanted to leave, but he had no where to go.

_I deserve it, _He thought as Deans footsteps grew louder and louder up the stairs, _I deserve to feel like this. It's your fault. You coward. It's your fault Dean lost Sam. Deans going to be all alone and it's all your fault. _

Deans head poked around the corner as he peered into Sams room. His green eyes seemed to imminently lock onto Gabriel. But that couldn't be possible, he was invisible. Dean couldn't see him-

"Uh-hey?" Dean took a step inside, eyes still locked onto Gabriel who was huddled on the floor in a teary mess. The ghost jumped at being addressed, "You-uh-know where my little brother is?"

Gabriels lip trembled and he manged to force out a shaky, "I...I'm sorry..." It wouldn't make sense to Dean, but that was all Gabriel could muster. He really was truly sorry. He had never felt more sorry in his whole life.

Dean crouched down next to him, his arms dangling in between his legs as his voice turned soft and kind. He talked to Gabriel like he talked to Sam and Cas when they were upset. "Hey...you all right, buddy?"  
Gabriel shook his head.  
"Are you a friend of my brothers? Whats your name?"  
"Gabriel..."  
"_Oooh,_" Deans eyes flashed brightly and a small smirk tugged on the corner of his lip, "So _you're _Gabriel..."  
He nodded.  
Dean stuck out his hand for Gabriel to shake, the ghost slowly raised his arm to grasp the calloused palm in his. Deans grip was firm and warm. "Dean Winchester." He introduced himself.  
"Gabriel." Replied the ghost simply.  
"Sams told me a lot about you-" the ghosts heart twinged at the sound of his name, he really wished he knew how he had finally learned to make himself visible, so he could make himself invisible again. He didn't have the heart to tell Dean what had happened to his brother, "-he seems to really like you."

Gabriels eyes flicked up to meet the freckled face smiling down at him. His face was still buried in his arms around his knees but he managed a small smile at the older man in front of him. "Yeah?" He said weakly. "You really-you really think so?"

"Hell yeah," Dean grinned, "I know so! He told me the other day he loved yah."

Gabriel giggled against his arm before picking up his head, "Yeah...I love him too..."

"You mind telling me why you're sitting in my brothers room cryin' your eyes out, though?"  
Gabriels face fell again. "Well..."

"Dean," Castiels voice chirped, "Did you find-Oh..." When the seventeen year old stepped into the room his eyebrows shot up his forehead in surprise, freezing on the spot.  
Gabriels throat was tight and his lungs seemed to stop working completely.  
Castiel could see him again.

"Hey, Cas," Dean said, "This is Sammys boyfriend, Gabriel."  
"Hel-hello." He replied slowly, "I am Castiel. You look...familiar...you even have his jacket..."  
"What are you talkin' about, Cas?"  
"Nothing-it's nothing I just..." His blue eyes flashed before tilting his head to the side slowly, his nose wrinkling in thought as he squinted, studying Gabriel. The ghost tried to hide his face in his arms again. "You just remind me of one of my brothers..."

Dean looked back and forth from Castiel and Gabriel, a puzzled expression crossing his face with each glance. Like he was trying to connect the similarities between the two but couldn't quite put it together. When Gabriel lifted his gaze off of the floor and meet the blue eyes staring at him, he felt like he was looking at his six year old brother again. A place in his heart rushed with warmth at the feeling of being seen by his little brother again. He wanted to scoop him up in his arms like he used to and hold him and tickle him until Castiel would cry out that he was going to pee his pants. Oh, how he wanted to have his family back.  
His legs had pushed him up off the ground before his brain could comprehend what he was doing. His feet carried him slowly across the room.  
"Cassie," He breathed.

"Um...do you guys already know each other?" Dean stood up slowly, arching a brow.

"Cas..." Gabe placed his hands on his chest and grinned, "Cas it's me. Its Gabriel."  
"Yes..." Castiel looked confused now, angling himself towards the doorway as though he was preparing for an escape, "Yes, you are Gabriel...I know you're name. Sam has told me about you before. He says that you are very funny and-"  
"No, Castiel," The ghost said hardly, reaching out to grab the shoulders of his trench coat. Castiel "It's _me_. Cassie it's your brother, Gabriel."

Castiel stumbled backwards, aggressively tearing his brothers hands away from him. His eyes were wide with terror and his face had gone very pale. "No," He shook his head violently, "He's dead. He died when I was a kid."  
"Castiel, when you were six years old you went into our mothers bedroom and found my necklace in her drawer-"  
"No!"  
"You put it on because you liked it and you wanted something to remember me by. You used to hold it at night and cry until I showed up and you saw me-"  
"Stop it!"  
"Remember, Castiel? Don't you remember when you saw me again?"  
"You're not him. You're lying-you're _lying_!"

"Castiel please just listen-"  
"No! You're not real!" Cas suddenly shouted, clamping his hands in his hair and ducking down, as though Gabriel was going to hit him.

"Hey what the hell man?!" Dean growled, running up to Gabriel, reaching out his hand to grab his shoulder but Deans hand only went through him. Gabriel shuttered slightly at the feeling. The Winchester yelped and stumbled backwards. "What the fuck _are you_?!"

"Go away! Go away you're not real! I'm not crazy! Go away!" Cas was whimpering on the floor.

This was not what Gabriel had in mind for a reunion.  
He crouched down to his cringing brother on the floor and tried to speak kindly, unsure if he should reach out to him again, "Cas...Cas please listen to me...It's me, Castiel. You're not crazy. Please believe me...Dean can see me. You can see me. Sam can see me. I'm really here, Cas. It's _really_ me."

Castiels shoulders trembled for a bit before slowly turning his red rimmed eyes up to Gabriels face. The room was silent. And for a moment, Gabriel seemed to forget about Sam. Just for a moment. There was no Dean, no Lucifer, no Sam, just Cas and Gabriel.

"Gabriel...?" He whispered, sniffing. His eyes looked the same as they had been the day he was born. Gabriel remembered how little he was in his arms when he got to hold him for the first time. He had squinted his eyes open just a little bit. Just for Gabriel.

"Castiel." The brother smiled.

"Does anybody wanna tell me what the hell is going on here?!" Snapped Dean from behind them. Gabriel turned over his shoulder and Castiel just grinned, gripping his older brothers arm and getting to his knees.

"Dean," He gasped, "It's him! It's Gabriel! I can feel him! He's real! Can't you see him, Dean?"

"Yeah, I see him," Dean said slowly, frowning. Gabriel sensed that maybe Dean didn't quite feel so kindly towards him anymore, "I see a real creep."

"No, Dean," Cas's smile fell slightly, "h-he's really my-"

"Where's Sam." He demanded.

Gabriels fingernails cut into his soft palms as the question he dreaded to answer echoed in his brain. His brown eyes flicked away from the freckled face and glared hard at the floor. But that didn't make Dean go away, and it didn't make Sam any less not here.

"Where is he." The brother repeated, "Where's Sammy, Gabriel. If you even _are_ Gabriel."

"Dean-"  
"What? For all I know he's some psycho who broke in here and has Sam and the real Gabriel locked up some place! Who are you?" Dean was now shouting, his knuckles practically turning white with the desire to hit something, "Where's Sam? Why were you in his bedroom and why were you crying? How do you know Cas? _Answer me _goddamnit!"

Gabriel grinded his teeth as Castiels grip tightened around his jacket. He didn't want to answer. He didn't want to have to. He didn't want to be the one who had to tell Dean that Sam was gone.  
He bit his tongue, feeling acid rise in his throat as the response rested on the tip of his tongue but the knot in his chest just wouldn't let him spit it out. Dean waited for a response. Castiel waited too. His blue eyes round and wide, looking up at his brother, expecting to hear a good answer. Expecting Gabriel to say something that would prove to Dean that he wasn't a creep and that he was the real deal. He wasn't expecting Gabriel to say that Sam was kidnapped.  
The room was so quiet and it was pounding against his brain.

"Well?" Dean growled, clearing the tense silence in the room.

Gabriel drew a shaky breath, keeping his eyes focused on the trash bin in front of him. "Do you want me to answer in that order?"

"Go ahead."

"I already told you, I'm Gabriel. Gabriel Novak. You don't have to believe me but it's the truth."  
"How can you be Gabriel Novak? He died when I was nine years old!"  
"Listen, I told you you didn't have to believe me, alright? I know I died. Ever hear of ghosts?"  
Dean just scoffed and rolled his eyes. "I don't believe in that crap."  
"You best start believin', kiddo. You're lookin' at one."  
"Yeah, _right_."  
"Look, don't you think Castiel would know his own brother? He recognizes me, isn't that enough for you? Can't you believe even just a _little_ bit?"

Deans face turned soft as he flicked his eyes down to Castiel on the floor. He was still holding onto his brother like a small child would. When his gaze went back to Gabriel his jaw hardened again.  
"Fine," he grumbled, "You're Gabriel. You're a ghost. Now, wheres my brother and why were you crying in his bedroom."

Letting out a hard sigh out of his nostrils, Gabriel finally came clean. He looked up at Dean and said as calmly as he could, "You might wanna sit down for this, Deano." He told them everything. He told them about how Sam had found his necklace laying on the ground in the Oak House. He told them how he had followed him home. He then had to explain how he didn't know how to make himself visible to everyone yet and Sam was the only one who could see him because he had his dog-tag. He told them about his growing affection for Sam and he told them about the prank at school. He talked about running away after their fight and meeting Lucifer again on Halloween. He then got to the part about Lucifers threat and his throat got tight again, but he managed to finish his story with how he had gone downstairs to give Sam some alone time to do his homework. When he came up here to respond to Sams cries, he was gone.  
"I was crying because...because he's gone. He's gone and it's all my fault. I wasn't here when he needed me and I don't deserve him," Gabriel was choking on sobs now, "I'm so selfish...I'm sorry, Dean. I'm sorry I can't save your brother...I...I can't do it..."

Castiels hand had long abandoned its place on his brothers arm and he was staring up at him with a new expression. Gabriel wasn't sure what it was but it looked like a mix between disappointment and pity. Maybe he was just imagining it though.

With hot acidy feeling tears staining his cheeks, he looked at the wall behind Dean Winchester he walked towards him. He didn't dare meet his eyes. When Dean approached him he didn't show any emotion on his freckled face. Gabriel braced himself for any kind of violence, shouting, punching, kicking him where the sun don't shine; anything. He thought he deserved it all. He wanted Dean to hit him. He wanted Dean to grab him by the hair and toss him out the window. Anything to make this terrible pain go away. Somewhere inside him he knew though, that Dean beating him to a pulp wouldn't resolve his guilt.

Dean raised his palm and smacked it hard against Gabriels face.

"I can't believe you." He spat, "Running away from your problems and hiding ain't going to solve anything, Gabriel. Grow a pair why don't you. I know you're scared shitless of Lucifer but who the hell cares? I know a sixteen year old boy whos probably a thousand times more terrified than you are right now! Who knows what hell Lucifers putting him through! I don't want your apologizes; saying I'm sorry isn't going to help Sam. Now for some crazy ass reason my brother thinks you make the sun shine and saying you don't deserve him is pretty much horseshit. He's told me all the crap you two do together and he's crazy about you. Anyone who makes my brother that happy-ghost or not-they deserve him. Let me ask you something; do you love him?"

"What?" Gabriel blinked away tears and sniffed. His cheek was smarting where Dean had hit him and he gingerly touched it with his fingertips.

"Do you love Sam or not?"

"Y-yeah. I love him."

"How much?"  
"M-more than anything. More than anything else in the whole world."  
"You want him safe?"  
"Of course..."  
"You want to protect him?"  
"Y-yes."  
"You want him alive?"  
"_Yes_, Dean."  
"Then get your fuckin candy ass out there and save my god damn bitch of a brother. Got it?"

A surge of adrenaline warmed his heart as Dean gripped his shoulders tightly and stared hard into his eyes. All it had taken was a smack against the head for Gabriel to realize what truly mattered here. The only thing he was afraid of more than he was of Lucifer was losing Sam. He hadn't been crying because of Lucifer, he was crying because of Sam.  
It was always Sam.  
Oh god, he loved Sam so much. He loved the way his shaggy hair looked in the morning and he loved the way his necklace sat on his bare chest as the two slept and Gabriel would watch him breathe late into the night. He loved the way Sam could light up a room with his laughter. He liked his taste lingering in his mouth after kissing him, and Jesus help him he wanted to kiss him again. His hand already felt cold and empty with just the thought of Sam never holding it again. He had taken advantage of all these small little things Sam did that made Gabriel so happy. Like the way he would mutter, "_You asshat_," between kisses. Gabriel liked the way his smile felt when it was pressed against his mouth.  
"_Ohmygod_," He muttered upon realizing this, "Ohmygod-I-I have to get him! I have to get Sam! He needs me! I need him!"

"Hell yeah!" Dean pushed him back and clutched his fists, turning them towards his chest as though he was pumping himself up for a fight. "Let's go get that sonabitch!"

"Wait-You're coming too?"  
"Fuck yeah," Dean cocked an eyebrow, "You think some guy can just kidnap my baby brother and _not _have to deal with me? I'll rip this psychos lungs out!"

"I am coming too!" Castiel stood up, "Sam is my friend. I want him safe as well."

Gabriel stood back and looked around at this oddball team. A high school drop out, a nerd with a trench coat, and a dead seventeen year old with a sweet tooth. A bunch of misfits.  
If someone had told Gabriel when he was alive that he would be teaming up with his baby brother and a mechanic to save his monster movie obsessed boyfriend from his older brother he would have doubled over laughing in their face, telling them they should check themselves into the loony bin. But this was all too real.

"Just tell us what we need to do, Gabriel," Castiel said, "We can help."

A trembling smirk jerked its way up his mouth in the way that it usually did when he was scheming a prank. His eyes flashed with a hint of a demon lurking behind them. The little devil on his shoulder rubbed its palms together eagerly with the vibe of Gabriel thinking mischievous thoughts. The switch in his brain clicked to give him an idea. A wonderfully awful idea.


	11. Chapter 11: Escape Plan

**Chapter Eleven: Escape Plan**

"I don't know, Gabriel...I don't feel comfortable breaking into the school after hours..."  
"You've been saying that the whole way here, Cas," Dean muttered as he jiggled the door handle of the door located at the back entrance of the high school gym, "And we told ya, you didn't have to come along if you didn't want to."

"And yet," chimed Gabriel, standing under the bright streetlight on the sidewalk, his arms folded over his chest, "you still came. So quit you're whining and help Dean get the dang door open."

Castiel wrinkled his nose and frowned, "What are you doing thats so important? Why do I have to help him?"

"I'm the lookout, _duh_." He waved a tootsie pop in his brothers face as he spoke, sticking it back into his mouth as he turned around to look out onto the dark dead street. Castiel muttered something inaudible to Gabriel as Dean told him to hand him something from his toolbox.

It was around ten o'clock at night now.  
Gabriel wanted to get Sam away from Lucifer as soon as he could but if he acted too quickly his plan would not fall through and he could end up killing not only himself, but Sam and maybe even Dean and Castiel. He needed to act carefully as he always did when planning a prank. In order to insure the safety of the others he would need to ignore his feelings for Sam for just a moment, if he didn't then he would have the rush to act on his heart not his brain and that would put everyone in danger. He needed to act as though all of this was just another prank.

Dean was fooling around with with hinges on the door, letting one screw hit the ground with a tiny clank and then the other. He then grabbed the door and moved it to the side, propping it against the wall Castiel stood in front of. He then turned and gestured inside, speaking to Gabriel, "Age before beauty."

"Mmm..." Gabriel wrinkled his nose at him as he swaggered into the gym, "you better watch it, Winchester."

They filed in one after the other and their footsteps echoed around the gymnasium. Castiel led them to the library.  
"Wow," Dean sighed, looking around blissfully, "I can't remember the last time I've been inside this place. It's been ages."

"We don't have time to reminisce, Deano," Gabriel reminded him, "you can do that on your own time. We gotta job to do."

"Speaking of which," said Castiel as he peered down the hallway, sweeping his eyes both ways to make sure no one else was inside. When he saw that the coast was clear and flicked his hand twice as a gesture to come along, "I'm unsure of how I feel about this _plan_ of yours, brother."

"What do you mean? You said so yourself that you wanted Sam safe."  
"Safe, yes, but as you may know I don't exactly participate in aggressive behavior. I was only wondering if perhaps there could be some other way we could save Sam without...the aggressive part."  
"Translation, Dean?"

"He's a big baby in a trench coat."  
"I am not, Dean! There is nothing wrong with just wanting peace. I was only wondering if maybe we could try...reasoning with our brother."

"Reasoning?" Gabriel barked, "_reason_? Lucifer won't listen to reason, Castiel."

"It was only an idea." The younger brother mumbled. His pace quickened after this, moving farther ahead of Dean and his brother. His shoulders were hunched moodily but Gabriel just rolled his eyes at him. He didn't expect Castiel to know. He didn't expect anyone to _really _know how unpredictable and changed Lucifer was. He had become more twisted while sitting in that asylum or wherever it was that his parents had set him in.  
In Castiels eyes Lucifer still is and will always be his brother. Even though he was probably deathly afraid of him whenever they visited. He was still family to Cas and it didn't seem as though he had a lot of that left. He really only had Dean and Sam.

"He just wishes for the best," Dean said softly, not peeling his eyes away from the back of Castiels trench coat,"you know that right? He just wants everything to be okay. He's had such a messed up life...he thinks the best of everyone. He expects everyone to be as nice and kind as he is. He's practically the invisible boy at home but he'll stick up for your parents until the day he dies. Same goes for Lucifer. He's like you in that way; family's his weak spot. Hell, I'm like that too now that I think about it."

Gabriel watched him the whole time he spoke. When he finished he turned to look at the ghost and a lopsided smile crossed his face. Gabriel was smiling back without even noticing. He punched Dean in the arm lightly and said, "Thanks for taking care of my little brother, Deano. You're one hell'ova guy to stick around our crazy family."

Dean chuckled good naturally, his eyelids hooded over his green iris' as he watched his feet walk on the tile floor. "No problem. I guess. I dunno what it is about him that makes me love him so much..." Gabriel watched as the latters eyes slowly lifted off the floor to look at the sway of beige cloth in front of them, his head still bowed.

The phantom stretched his arms over the back of his head and smirked, "It must be something in the Winchesters bloodstream. They can't resist the charming good looks of us Novaks."

He finally made Dean laugh. _Really _laugh.

It was different from Sams. Deans laugh sounded as though it came more from his stomach and he sort of bends over in heaves of giggles, his body just didnt seem like it could stay still. The creases by his eyes bunch up and his face sort of splits into this maniac grin. When Sam laughs his eyes smile with him and they twinkle as though they have solar systems hidden in them. His lips curve over his pearly white teeth and usually it sounds so genuine and sweet, Gabriel likes to think it sounds more like its coming from his heart. Sometimes when Gabriel gets him really going, his eyes will squint close and he will fall back and clap his hands, his face turned upwards as though he was praising the heavens for being able to laugh this hard.  
It made his heart flutter just thinking about it.

Castiel cleared his throat loudly at the other end of the hallway, tapping his foot against the floor in loud clicks. He was standing in front of the library doors. The windows on the sides showed that inside was pitch black.  
"Coming?" He asked them.

"Aw," Dean tisked with a grin as he hurried up to his boyfriend, the contents of his toolbox clanking noisly as he went, "don't act so cranky now, Cas."

"I am not cranky." He wrinkled his nose, "I just have a lot on my mind at the moment."

Dean wrapped him in a one armed hug and nuzzled his nose into the crook of Castiel neck. He suddenly seemed quite comfortable with showing affection in front of Gabriel and the ghost felt a bit of twinging guilt and longing for Sam. Castiel giggled and blushed when Dean did this, shoving him away and exclaiming, "That tickles, Dean!"

"Well, if you two are getting busy out here," Gabriel announced loudly once he became a bit annoyed with listening to the giggles bouncing off the walls around them, "I'll just mosey myself over here," and with that he walked straight through the locked library door and to the other side. He could hear Castiel yelling something at him from the other side as he wondered through the room. He needed to get away from those two for a while. They were too sweet.  
It made him sick.  
He didn't want to be around them while he was supposed to keep his mind on track and focus on his prank. He couldn't get caught up in his feelings of guilt and love, it would only send him tumbling. It would be easier for him to just find the book on his own.

He wondered around the library quietly, his eyes scanning the plaques glued on the bookcases labeled with different genres. He tried to remember where exactly Sam had gotten this monster book, but at the time he had been stuffing his face with M&Ms and it was also quite a while ago.  
His heart flooded with warm memories of sitting in this library with Sam; in between breaks and after school and on a rare occasion during lunch when Jo and Barry where not around.

He could almost see himself and Sam sitting at one of the tables in the back of the library, tucked away from the hawk like eyes of the librarian perched at her desk. Sam would whisper to him to keep quiet as he scribbled in his notebook or read out of one of his novels. But Gabriel would just keep on happily babbling about whatever was on his brain. He made it a point to make Sam laugh as much as he possibly could, so sometimes he would make paper airplanes on the other side of the room and throw them at Miss Ponds desk. She would glare at them and hiss, "Where are these coming from?!"  
It almost always got Sam into a fit of giggles.

More recently, before Thanksgiving vacation of course, they would spend their breaks in their corner stealing kisses. Gabriel would swirl his finger around in circles on Sams arm as he tugged on his bottom lip. Sam would mumble in between these moments; something about getting caught and how he should be finishing his assignment, but the ghost wouldn't pay him much attention. For these few moments Gabriel would forget that he was dead. He could feel his heart pumping and coursing adrenaline through his veins, giving him a high off of the edge of the possibility of being caught. He felt so alive on these moments. He felt like not a day had gone by since his murder.  
There was a few occurrences where they were nearly caught in the act. Garbriel had his hand up Sams shirt without even realizing it had gotten there and Sams hands were kneading through golden hair when they suddenly heard footsteps coming out from an aisle next to them. Sam reacted instantly, pressing his hands against the ghosts chest and pushing him off. He spun around in his chair and pretended he as stuck on a math problem. A blush was rising up his face. When he had pushed Gabriel away, he had caught him by surprise and was not prepared for such a hard shove. His chair had toppled backwards, sending him crashing onto the ugly green carpet below. Gabriel was laughing his head off, and the student who had come walking down the aisle stopped abruptly when she came to the end, staring at Sam and the adjacent chair next to him. She looked very confused and with a turn of her heel she went back the way she came.

Sams pupils flicked to the corner of his eyes and they met Gabriels. The two broke out in snickers instantly.

Gabriels the beating muscle in his chest now felt like it was resting very heavy in his gut, and a lump had risen in his throat and he feared he was going to start crying again. It had only been hours since Sam had been taken but for Gabriel it's been years.

The sucker he had been sucking on was now gone and he toyed with the paper end in his fingers, doing his best to distract himself so he wouldn't think about Sam.

He couldn't help but wonder how he had allowed himself to get so goddamn attached to this kid. Perhaps it was the fact that for the longest time no one else in the world could see him. Maybe it was because Sam really understood him and was there for him when he needed it. He couldn't remember the last time anyone had treated him so.  
Whatever the spark was that connected the two Gabe could feel it flowing in his veins. The feeling felt so right and so enlightening, it was as though he had finally found the ultimate Truth for life; Sam Winchester.

He bent the paper stick in his hand with his thumb and tossed it to the side, grumbling at himself for continuing to think about that boy.  
If he ever wanted to see him again he was going to have to start thinking straight.

Finally, at the end of the room, he came across a plaque that read; _Supernatural_.  
He figured this must have been were Sam had gotten the book and pivoted to walk down the aisle, his hand grazing over the spines of dusty books as he read the titles along the side. He tried hard to remember the exact name of it, but all he could picture was how it looked like. It was big and had brown leather as the cover. The pages were made of parchment and smelled like an old folks home. Most of it looked like it had been typed on a typewriter, but it had also been scribbled on and edited with black pens or ink. He remembers seeing drawings in ink sloppily sketched on the pages; the ghosts were portrayed as having pure black eyes and large gaping mouths. Gabriel wondered if that's just a stereotype or if maybe ghosts look like that when they're actually meloveolent and violent. Like Lucifer.  
He shuddered slightly.

If it weren't for his hand gliding along the books he never would have found it. His brain had drifted into his thoughts and therefore he wasn't really paying attention to the books he was looking at. His fingertips grasped around leather and he froze, turning his head slowly to look at the spine.  
_Monster Book of Monsters by Samuel Colt._

This had to be it.

Gabriels heart soared as he thumbed through the pages quickly. He came across the ghost page and relief rushed out of his lungs. Everything was here. Exactly what he needed.  
He closed the book and hugged it to his chest tightly, making his way back to his brother and Dean in the hallway.

When he phased through the door Dean was just about to try to pick the lock on the door. He fell flat on his back when he nearly had the ghosts crotch in his face. "_Jesus Christ_!" He shouted, "Warn a guy next time will'ya?!"

Gabriel just rolled his eyes and held out the book he had been carrying, "I got it!"

"Why didn't you just do that phasey thing in the first place? Then I wouldn't have to unhinge that gym door." Dean frowned, dusting off his jeans with his hands.

"I was the look out, remember?"  
Cas and Dean groaned.

"Whatever, Gabe," Castiel sighed, "let's just get out of here before someone sees us or something."

* * *

Sams mouth is so dry his tongue felt rough against the roof of his mouth. He wasn't sure how long he had been down here and Lucifer hadn't came to visit since when he first woke up. He was still struggling against the chair, trying to reach the knot that was just out of his reach.

The room was still pitch black and Sam was beginning to feel claustrophobic.

He was almost certain all the feeling in his hands had been lost because the rope was so tight on his wrists, but he never gave up trying to untie it.

As he attempted for the millionth time to reach for the knot he wondered how he even ended up in this place. Over the past few hours he was able to put together some of the puzzle pieces.

He remembered sitting at his desk, writing down the history of World War Two when he heard Gabriel turn on the radio downstairs. He was able to drown that part out but it was when he felt the cold air of winter brushing against his back that he turned around. The window was open.  
Puzzled, he got up from his desk to close it. He looked outside, thinking perhaps Gabriel was playing a trick on him. He didn't see any sign of his ghost, so he huffed agitatedly and shut the window again, making sure to lock it before turning on his heel to get back to his work. No sooner had he sat down and gripped his pencil in between his fingers did he feel the cold brushing against his back again.  
He growled under his breath.

"Gabriel, cut it out. I really need to work right now."

No one responded.

He spun around in his chair to glare at him but the room was empty. He frowned at his empty bedroom and muttered, "Fine, be like that then."  
He shifted in his chair to get back to his work when suddenly he felt a hard blow to the back of his head. His body crumpled forward, smacking his face hard against his desk.  
He imminently sprung back up in his chair, touching his fingers to his nose and pulling them back in front of his eyes. Crimson dripped from them and also dotted the desk.

He hopped to his feet and spun around to ask Gabriel what the hell his problem was; when he saw someone he didn't recognize standing in front of him. He froze on the spot.

And then, _nothing_. That was all he could remember. He recalled yelling for Gabriel once or twice but other than that his memory was dark and foggy. It was like he had just blacked out after that point. Perhaps Lucifer had done something to him so he wouldn't remember. Somehow he had ended up here. Wherever here was.

He slumped against the chair, exhausted. His wrists burned and his arms were sore.  
He tilted his head towards the ceiling and closed his eyes. The aching head ache in the back of his skull throbbed against his eyelids, begging for rest. But he couldn't rest now. Gabriel was out there searching for him and soon he would end up here and Lucifer would hurt him. Sam wasn't going to allow that. He needed to get out before he got here.

He pressed his back hard against the chair in another attempt of reaching the knot. He knew he could grab it if he could just...reach...a little...farther...

His heart soared with excitement when he finally felt his hand grip tightly around the rough stringy piece of rope that was connected to the knot above his wrists. He firmly held it in his hand and pulled as hard as he could, the rope started to become loose around his wrists. He attempted to make a grab for the other string with his other hand. After a few failed grasps, he felt the rough rope scratch against his palm.

After a few minutes of struggling and pulling, the rope fell onto the ground with dull thuds.

He tended to his wrists almost imminently, gingerly nursing them with his fingers. He couldn't see them in the dark but he knew they must be horribly red.

A tiny voice in the back of his mind reminded him of escaping.

Almost imminently did he get to his feet. His vision blurred as his brain spun around in his skull from standing up to fast, but Sam tried to ignore it. He held out his arms and began walking forward, having no idea where an exit was thanks to the darkness.

His hands swept the perimeter around him, only feeling air for the first few steps until he came across cardboard. He moved his hand across to feel that it was a box he was touching. He moved his hand up to feel that there was more on top of it. He walked along the wall of boxes, letting them guide him up until he met the cool brick wall.

Sams palm scratched against the rough pebbly texture of the bricks as he walked blindly, the only thing that kept him going was the burning hope that somewhere in this darkness there was a way out.

He felt as if he were walking in a never ending black abyss where he would continue walking for the rest of his life. Never seeing Gabriel, Dean, or Cas ever again.  
His fingers found themselves wrapped around the dog tag necklace. Clinging tightly as though it was his security blanket. It had become a habit of his without even really realizing it.

With his palm tickling against the bricks with one hand and his thumb smoothing over the engraved letters and wings on the silver with the other, he felt a dull sense of safety. Though it was a little hard to feel any bit of safety when you're in the same vicinity as the ghost of a kidnapping murderer.

He felt as though he had been walking for years.

In reality it was only a few more paces before he found something solid.

His foot ran into it first.

When the pain shot up his foot he wanted to jump back and yelp in surprise, but he had contained himself by biting into his tongue so hard he thought he could taste blood. He waved off the pain of his smarting toe and bent down to feel what it was that he had ran into.

It was very close to the ground, Sam had to crouch down very low to feel it. It felt like the cement floor and he could feel where it rose out of the ground like a weird rectangular mountain. When he ran his hand over the top it was smooth, along with the rest of it. It had sharp corners on the ends and if he slid his palm forward his fingertips would run into another one on top of it.

His brain suddenly clicked.

_Stairs._

Awkwardly, but hurriedly, Sam went up the steps. He had to crawl on all fours thanks to the pitch darkness, he didn't want to risk accidentally missing a step and giving himself a heart attack. He counted the steps as he went to keep his mind busy and off of the ticking reminder of the fact Lucifer could catch him at any time.

_Three...Four...Five...Six...Seven..._

They stopped. He couldn't feel another step in front of him so he assumed he had arrived to the door.  
When he glided his hands up the wall he felt wood and his blood pumped with the thought of freedom.

It was somewhat titled upwards and Sam figured he must be in a root cellar and this was the cellar door that led outside.

His fingers grasped frantically for a knob and he almost jumped when he felt something ice cold brush the back of his hand. He grasped it against his palm and he could feel the shape of it; round and curved like a bulls ring.  
Holding the handle in one hand and his other pressed against the door, Sam said a silent prayer that it wasn't locked.

With one hearty shove, it popped open.

He couldn't believe how easy this was.

Fresh air filled his lungs before he could even scramble outside. His knees sank into the snow and then his stomach. The celler had been so stuffy and dry, he just wanted to breathe. It was dark outside, but the moon and street lamps on the sidewalk bore enough light for Sam to see. He looked around at his surroundings. He was sitting at the side of a house. He could see a fence in front of him, and to his right he could see the front of the house. There was a rusty chain link fence and a very familiar old oak tree.  
He was so close to home it was ridiculous.

He scrambled to his feet, slipping and sliding on the snow a bit as he did so but he made a run for the gate. He felt like he should scream with joy, scream to let Gabriel know he was all right, but if he did Lucifer would hear him. All he could do was run.

The wind was knocked out of him before he could reach the rock path.  
A heavy weight was resting on his back and although Sam tried his best to squirm and kick him off, he couldn't even move.

"What do you think you're doing?" Lucifers voice growled into his ear.

Sam didn't respond.

"Now, Sam, I know you weren't thinking of running away," Lucifer sat up and grabbed the boys arms roughly. Sam almost yelped again, his hands were so cold they burned against his skin. They were colder than the snow, colder than anything Sam had ever known, "you wouldn't want to run away from me. We were having such a swell time together."

"Help!" Sam tried to scream but his dehydrated throat made his voice cracked and squeaky,. He screamed loud enough it made his throat feel like it was going to bleed from it, "Help! Gabriel! Dean-"

"Shut up!" Lucifer hissed, clamping his cold hand over Sams mouth. He was beginning to drag him back towards the root cellar door, "You just keep quiet. Keep quiet and I won't break your fingers you little-"

Sam just thrashed around in his frozen cold arms, refusing to go back into the cellar. He couldn't believe how close he had been. He had been so close to freedom, to Gabriel, to home. He took one last glance at the navy blue sky and the pale white moon before Lucifer slammed the cellar door and went to tie him up again.

* * *

"What do you mean by that? You're pussying out?"  
Gabriel slammed his hands on the kitchen table.

It was now one o'clock in the morning, the trio had arrived home and read and reread and reread the ghost chapter of the Monster Book of Monsters for hours now. Cas, Dean, and Gabriel had remained huddled in the kitchen all this time. Dean had been pouring a half-asleep Castiel another cup of coffee when he had told his brother that he was having second thoughts on this plan of his. Gabriel hadn't taken this lightly.

"I didn't say that, Gabriel," Castiel said hardly, looking up at him with tired blue eyes, "I just think we should be thinking this through again. Sams safety is in our hands and we should be taking precautions-"

"Castiel we don't have _time_!" The ghost exploded. The pots hanging above the stove clanged together as though a strong breeze had unsettled them.

Dean frowned at him for a long time before placing a hand on his shoulder and saying slowly, "Gabriel. We're scared too."

He tried to shrug away from him, anger ebbing at his heart. "He needs us." He spat, "We can't re-plan everything now! We should of left an hour ago, but instead he's still stuck there thanks to you two asshats."

"Hey," Dean snapped, "you're not the only one who loves Sam here, you arrogant dick. Remember that."

Gabriels nails pinched against his palms as he clenched his fists, trying to ignore the burning white hot sensation in his brain. He tried to remind himself not to think too much about Sam or else he'd mess everything up, but he was too angry for that now.

"I don't need you guys anyway. I can go get him myself."  
"Don't do that."  
"Then what am I supposed to do? You said so yourself, Deano, Sam's probably terrified with Lucifer. We can't just leave him down there! He's been stuck with him for hours now who knows what kinda hell he's been through. I just-I just-just tell me what to do. I don't know...I don't know what to do."

Castiel cleared his throat loudly, cupping his mug in his hands and not looking up from the brown liquid residing inside of it. "Do what you want, Gabriel."

"Cas-"  
He held up a hand to stop Dean, "No, my brother thinks he doesn't need us. Go ahead, Gabriel. Save Sam all by yourself. Because every time you've been cocky it's always ended well, hasn't it?"

Gabriels jaw clenched and his amber eyes flickered dangerously. He huffed hardly, puffing out his cheeks like an angry chipmunk. "Maybe I will then."

"Look, guys," Dean stood between them, holding up his arms as though to keep them separated, "we're all tired, and worried about Sam. We could all use some rest..."

"We can't rest!" Gabriel blurted, "You can rest! I'm a ghost I don't need it! I'll get Sam and-"

"Gabriel stop it. You need us just as much as we need you. This plan of yours is crazy but it'll only work if all three of us do it together, all right?" Dean's voice was hard but his eyes shown bright with worry for his brother, "we all want him back. But if we're gonna do this right, we gotta get along."

"Fine." Gabriel mumbled.

"Cas?"  
"...Fine."

"But let's get one thing straight," Gabriel held up a finger as though this would help his point, "we're not resting. We're getting him tonight."

* * *

Gabriel was standing outside of the Oak house.  
The wind blew but it went right through him.  
He knew somewhere inside here Lucifer would have Sam. It wasn't Sam he really wanted it was Gabriel, and he wouldn't keep Sam hidden somewhere complicated that would keep Gabriel on a wild goose chase. He would keep it simple for him.

He walked towards the house.

It was now maybe one-thirty or two in the morning. He was alone on the front porch.

He didn't bother to open the door he simply walked through, the less noise the better. The house looked the same as it always had been. Dust covered practically everything. Not a particle out of place.

It was empty.

He was a little worried at this. He hadn't expected Lucifer to be sitting on the staircase waiting for him like he knew he would be coming at this exact moment, but the house seemed too quiet and too empty. It was unsettling.

He slowly drifted his way around the first floor of the house. No sign of a struggle, no sign of his brother, or Sam. He didn't want to dare to try and go upstairs where his brother most likely was. He knew he wouldn't keep Sam up there, there was windows and Sam was smart. If he got the chance he would try to either escape from them or yell for help.  
Lucifer would keep Sam hidden away from the world. He can't see them, so no one can see him.

It didn't take him long to think of the cellar.  
It was dark and cold down there, if Sam didn't die of hypothermia first he'd surely drive himself mad.

Gabriel phased through the door in the kitchen that led down the steps of the cellar.  
As he hurried down the stairs he grabbed the string attached to the light bulb above the stairs and tugged it. It was a dim light but it flickered on. As soon as he reached the bottom step he saw him.

Sam was tied to a pole that was on the far end of the room. His shaggy hair almost covered his eyes, and his face looked dirty. Dry blood clotted itself under his nose and above his lips. A cloth was tied around his mouth to keep him from speaking and as soon as he met the amber eyes staring at him he stared thrashing and shaking his head.

He tried to scream but he was only muffled by the cloth.

Gabriel hurried over and knelt down in front of him, digging his thumbs into his shoulders and almost crying with relief that Sam was alive and here. He let out a breathy laugh and caressed his dirty face.

Sams cheek tingled with the warmth Gabriels palm brought, he felt so cold and his jeans were wet from the cold snow. He was shaking from it. He couldn't help but stop his thrashing and lean against the warmth, his sleep repressed eyelids drooping closed. His headache still dully throbbed in the back of his mind and something shouted at him to remind him of Lucifers plan.

Green eyes flashed back open as Gabriel spoke, "I'm gettin' you out of here, Sammich...Don't worry. I'm here. It's gonna be okay..." Gabriels voice was even but his hands were shaking terribly when he held them up to untie the cloth that was gagging Sam.

Sam tried to tell him to get out. Gabriel needed to get out while he still could. He repeated no over and over again but he might as well be speaking gibberish, because the ghost couldn't understand him with the gag tied. It was already too late by the time it fell to the floor by Sam.

"Gabriel-" he breathed imminently, but he was cut off by a pair of familiar warm lips meeting his own. They were hot and wet against his chapped and cold mouth. It was a good minute before Gabriel parted. He was smiling blissfully but it was clear he was scared.

"Lets get you home, Sam." He said to him.

Sam opened his mouth, green eyes rimmed with red. But the voice that spoke wasn't his.

The voice that spoke was calm and slow. It came from over Gabriels shoulder and it froze him on the spot. He was just beginning to reach over to untie Sams wrists when it stopped him.

"Aw, Gabriel," it tisked in a mocking sort of voice, "you're trembling all over."


	12. Chapter 12: Bad Moon Rising

**Chapter Twelve: Bad Moon Rising**

Gabriel didn't remember standing up and turning around, but the next thing he knew he was staring at his older brother. He looked different since the last time he had seen him. His face was paler, his skin looked tighter around his bones in his face, and his eyes had sunken in somewhat. His pupils were larger, if it weren't for the tiny ring of pale blue-gray his eyes would be almost completely black.

His chest felt tight with fear and he knew he was supposed to get right down to business but the words had fallen out of his mouth before his brain even thought them.

"Lucifer, what happened to you?" He said it all in one breath, like the sentence had whooshed out of his tight lungs.

Lucifer cocked his head to the side with a smile that wasn't quite a smile, and as he walked his body swayed. His eyes flashed slightly as his skin crinkled with crows feet from his not-quite-a-smile. "It's a pleasure to see you too, brother." He was drawing dangerously close to Gabriel and Sam. The younger brother held out his chest slightly, side stepping to hide Sam behind him. Lucifer didn't react. He merely paused a few feet away from them, his hands folded behind his back, and his head still tilted with his eyes glued and unblinking on Gabriel.

"I'm actually quite surprised to see you here, Gabriel. I actually thought I'd have to off the little brat myself. But it seems that you really do love him do you? Risking your own life to save his? It would be quite sweet. If it weren't so disgusting."

Sam growled behind the ghost, but Gabriel stood his ground, showing little reaction. Sam had never seen him look so tall.

"And to answer your question, little brother," He continued to drawl, "I have no idea what you're talking about. I've never felt more alive."

"All right, Luce," it was Gabriels turn to speak, he seemed more assertive and confident all of the sudden and Sam was taken aback at this, "I'm here. It's me you want, so let Sam go. Just let me untie him."

"Oooh," Lucifer clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and shook his head, "I'm afraid I can't let that happen."

Sam was almost in awe as he watched the back of Gabriels shoulders tense, his hands balling into fists. He felt a rush of warmth from the feeling of being protected and safe, he thought for a moment that Gabriel could actually tear Lucifer a part before he let him touch him again. A cold breeze whooshed across Sams cheek, a signal that he knew all too well. Letting him know that Gabriel was angry.

"You're letting him go." He demanded.

Lucifers eyebrows raised in surprise and amusement. The corners of his mouth tugging up against his cheeks as his pale pink lips parted slightly to let out a soft chuckle, "Excuse me, Gabriel?"

"You're letting Sam go. Do what ever you want to me, but let me get him home."  
"I don't know who you think you are, but I am not letting any one of those things happen."

Sam could see him practically trembling with fury as he hissed through clenched teeth, his head bowed slightly towards his scuffy shoes, "_Please_. Just let me trade places with him."

"Gabriel-" Sams breath caught in his throat. He couldn't let him trade places with him. He wouldn't let Gabriel go through torture like this again in this house. If he was getting out so was his ghost.

But Gabes shoulders hitched at the sound of Sams voice. He didn't look at him. He voice was different. Too serious. Too grave. He was so un-Gabriel-like in that moment it was almost horrifying. He responded so softly Sam wondered if he was even moving his lips. "Don't. Sam."

Lucifer seemed to be enjoying this. A crooked smile was now spread across his face, a finger tapping against his chin. He was playing with Gabriel like some twisted toy of his. He liked seeing his brother acting frustrated and seeming like he was the one in charge; telling Lucifer that he was going to let Sam go. When really he was still the little four year old that would do whatever Lucifer and his friends would ask him to do.

With a dull twinkle in his eye the older brother replied with a cocky, "No." as though testing his younger sibling. Sam felt a jerk in his gut at seeing him treating Gabriel like his play thing. He tugged against the ropes and pole, fully knowing that it was worthless. He just wanted Lucifer to know that he wasn't happy, and if he wasn't tied up he would definitely show off those fighting skills Dean had taught him. He had about enough of Lucifer and his games.

What happened next was quite unexpected. Neither Sam or Lucifer saw it coming and Sam wondered if even Gabriel knew what was happening, but he seemed to know what he was doing. He attacked his brother in hardly half a second and had him pinned to the concrete floor. He wasn't hitting him. Just holding him down with all the strength he could muster.  
His left arm was locked under his brothers throat and his right hand was gripping his arm tightly. A low growl seemed to come from Gabriels chest but he didn't speak. Perhaps he was too shocked at his own actions to actually spit out a threat or to even act on one.

Lucifers face contorted from surprise back to amusement. He started laughing. Gabriel bounced in rhythm of his brothers chest, and he jumped slightly, but tightened his grip around his arm and neck.

"Oh, Gabriel," purred Lucifer, "What have you gotten yourself into now?" His sibling didn't respond. Just pinched his nails against Lucifers cold skin. "Go on then, hit me, Gabriel."  
Nothing.  
"Hit me."  
Nothing.  
"_Hit. Me_."  
Gabriel was trembling again. He wanted to hit him. He wanted to tear him a part and toss him into a fire pit, then riding off into the sunset with Sam kissing his cheek and calling him a hero, but that was just another acid trip fantasy wasn't it. He wasn't a hero. He was Gabriel. And this was Lucifer. _His_ Lucifer.  
He tried to blink away the stinging tears in the corner of his eyes as he realized that he was still being held back by that string. He was so close from showing his brother what he was made of and yet, he was still backing down. His plan was flopping belly up right in front of his eyes and he was going to let everyone down.

Lucifer snorted loudly, "That's what I thought. _Pathetic_." He hardly even had to try to push Gabriel off of him and give him a swift blow to the belly. His younger sibling doubled over and let out a yelp before he added, "Cry baby."

"Stop it!" Sam shouted, grabbing Lucifers attention.

His grin just grew broader as he swaggered towards his new toy, "Aw, Sammy, I almost forgot about you. You believe me now, don't you? How pathetic my baby brother is? He can't even stand up for himself, let alone you. It was foolish of him to show up," Sams teeth were grinding as he glared up at the ghost in front of him. Something shiny flashed in his hand but he didn't care to look at it. He didn't want to take his gaze away from Lucifer.

"I don't care about that," Sams voice was hard and even, "I don't care if you think Gabriels pathetic. I would have rather had him not show up at all, but he's here anyway. And that's okay. So what if he's not a knight in shinning armor? He's Gabriel. He's just Gabriel and that's fine by me. You're stupid assumptions about him being foolish and cowardly are all lies, Lucifer. You don't know him like I do."

Lucifer completely ignored Sams comment and continued on with what he had on his mind, "I would have killed you both anyway. But I do feel a little bad for making him watch you die." He then shrugged his shoulders with the air of brushing off a C on a science test, "Oh, well. I'll get over it."

Gabriels eyes snapped open and he picked up his head. All the pain in his middle vanished the moment his amber eyes locked onto the shard of glass clamped in his brothers hand. Sam wasn't even looking at it. He was just looking at Lucifer with pure hatred. He didn't look the least bit worried. Not even when the glass flickered in his green eyes.  
His heart drummed in his chest as he felt something snap in his brain.

The string had been broken.  
The string holding his back from beating Lucifer into a plup was cut and he was released from his confining prison only to unleash the hell he had been bottling up inside him for god knows how long. All those years of hiding from his family and never fighting were finally being made up for. He grabbed Lucifer by the back and slammed him down onto the concrete in front of Sam. Straddling him and twisting back his arm like he was going to break it. Sams eyes were as wide as saucers when he witnessed not only this but the shard of glass laying not far from him. He gulped at the thought of it slicing across his throat.

Gabriel was bending his brothers arm back as far as it could go and more, Lucifer actually yelped in pain and for a moment Gabriel even thought he would break his brothers arm.  
The string had finally been cut and Sam was holding the scissors.

It was always Sam.

* * *

The Impala jerked to a stop in front of the graveyard. Cas hadn't stopped shaking since Gabriel left and now even his teeth were chattering even though the car was warm with the heat blasting in his face. Dean asked him if he would like to stay in the car but he shook his head, putting on a brave face and grabbing the shovels before Dean had his seat belt off.

The ground wasn't frozen given that this was Kansas and it didn't necessarily get cold enough for everything to freeze even if there was snow on the ground.  
The two trudged through the thin snow in the dark. Dean used the flashlight he brought to shine the names of the graves in front of them as Castiel directed him where to go from memory. It had only been a few weeks since he had last been here.

He bundled the flaps of his trench coat in one hand and held it close, keeping it from flapping against the wind and to keep himself warm. He awkwardly held the two shovels with his other hand, pointing the tops towards the dark sky. It had been about a half hour since Gabriel left for Oak Street and Castiels stomach hadn't stopped bubbling with anxiety.

"Wh-what exactly did he have written on that paper again?" He asked through chattering teeth.

Dean fumbled with the note in his pocket Gabriel had written earlier before they had even snuck into the school. He had written it down and handed it to Dean after going on and on about his wonderful plan and about Sam and Lucifer and how he promised everything was going to be normal again. They had all been offering up plans, and Castiel thought that his was just as good but his brother had jumped up and exploded with a parade of his '_best idea ever_'. He claimed it couldn't ever possibly go wrong and that if they wanted Sam home they should listen to the prank master. That all seemed so long ago to Castiel. He felt as though he had made up all the lost time he had with his brother already in these few hours he's gotten to have him back. He wondered what Gabriel meant by being normal again.

Dean pulled out the crumpled white piece of paper, and didn't stop walking. He shined the flashlight on it so he could read it aloud. "'_Gabriels Fantastically Awesome Prank That is Better Than Castiels Stupid Plan Because Gabriel is Hella Radical And Obviously The Smartest', _what the hell does my brother see in this asshat, huh? No offense, Cas."

Castiel let go of his trench coat to raise a hand as though saying '_I know, my brother is a dick. It's okay. I don't understand Sam either.' _He couldn't help but smile.

Dean smirked slightly and continued reading, "'_The super hot and sexy Gabriel will go to the old house and distract the dumb and unsuspecting Lucifer while Dean and Cas go find Lucis old necklace and burn that shit good. I, Gabriel, will untie the cute and endearing helpless Sam Winchester and attempt to get him out of there. I will stall our stupid older brother as long as I can. If worse comes to worse, twiddle dee and twiddle dum (Dean and Castiel) will show up at the Oak House armed with salt and iron and get the kid the hell outta there. I will handle my big brother. Don't screw up freckles ~Gabriel N.'_"Deans ears turned slightly pink in the darkness and he turned to Castiel, "What the hell does he mean 'don't screw up freckles'? Like he knows me or somethin'. I just met the guy and he's already makin' me out to be some screw up." He stuffed the letter back into his pocket after shaking his head at it, mumbling something about him not even having that many freckles. "Whats up with him and nicknames anyway!" He added.

A tiny smirk tugged at Castiels lips as he heard this. He was about to open his mouth to tell Dean that he thought his freckles were quite adorable and they were in fact one of his favorite traits of Deans, but that smirk was wiped from his face when he spotted a clean grave stone from the flash of light. He saw a glimpse of a name and date and his heart thudded. He stopped in his tracks and once Dean noticed the absence of a pair of footsteps he stopped too. He raised his eyebrows in question and the latter answered without even having to look at him.  
"It's there." He said.

Dean spun around wildly, his flashlight glazing over all the headstones around them until he recognized the name on the stone in the far corner, closest to the gate. His flashlight bobbed as he hurried over to it. Castiel hung back.

When he noticed he was alone he turned back around and called him over until Cas slowly walked towards to plot also. Neither of them spoke to each other. Dean just grabbed a shovel from Cas' hand and imminently stuck it into the ground. He pressed his foot down on top of it, denting the earth. He started digging.  
Cas watched him for a long time until Dean looked over his shoulder and asked if he was going to help or not. Numbly, he began digging also. His heart pounding harder against his adams apple with every dig and toss of soft brown dirt. His blood felt like it was on fire and his chest was very tight, making it hard for him to breathe with the knowledge of what was laying under all of this dirt.

Deans muscles were screaming after digging about two feet down, and he slumped against the wall of dirt to take a break. He took the piece of cloth he kept in his back pocket and dabbed his sweaty forehead before offering it to Cas, but his hand fell before he could let him take it. Castiels face was red and he was breathing harder than he should. "You all right, buddy?" he asked.

"Huh?"  
"You don't look so good. You don't have to do this, Cas. I can take it from here if you want."  
"No-No I want to. I can do it, Dean. I can."

He looked at him uneasily before getting back to digging. Cas joined him imminently, digging faster with determination as those he was trying to prove his point.

It was about an hour or so until Dean hit something hard and Cas jumped.

Dean practically threw the flashlight at Cas, and crouched down to sift through the dirt. He brushed the cold pebbles and soil aside until a brown-red coffin was visible.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Castiel announced.  
His boyfriend looked over his shoulder at him and said slowly, "You don't have to be here, I keep tellin' you that. It's all right."

Without another word Cas hurried out of the grave and laid with his hot face against the snow, it was comforting and made him feel like he wasn't going to puke anymore. Taking long, deep, shaky breaths, the feeling slowly subsided. He tried to ignore the sound of Deans grunts and the creaking of the coffin being open. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to focus on the cold snow melting against his warm cheek, and the steady wind brushing against his hair.  
Dean's panicked voice broke the calm.

"It's not here."

"What?" Cas got to his feet without thinking about it. The sudden rush made his stomach feel queasy and he was looking at the open hole in the earth but not down in it in fear of spotting his dead brother's corpse, "What do you mean it's not here? My mother made sure to bury it with him-"

"It's not here, Cas! The necklace isn't freakin' here!"

* * *

Gabriel now had Lucifer pinned on his back and was giving him blows to the face with his knuckles. Sam was cheering him on with glee and if Gabriel wasn't fuming he could have sworn he could hear his brother actually laughing. A quick flashback to thirteen Halloweens ago gave him a jolt to the heart but he ignored it. He needed to get this out once and for all. Lucifers blood was smeared on his hand and that was when he stopped. His fingers curled around the shirt of this collar, and his chest heaving for breath. Lucifers head merely rolled back on the ground and his eyes watched the ceiling. His lip was split and swollen.

"Is that it?" He drawled, "are you finished?"

Gabriel glared at him but said nothing.

"You think you're special now or something? Now that you finally hit me? It's only taken you how long; thirty years?" Lucifer chuckled darkly, and his eyes switched from the ceiling to his brother, "you're still my wussy baby brother, Gabriel. I'll always be better than you. Don't act like you weren't jealous when everyone in school would talk about how well I did at my football games. And you may have acted happy but I knew you were disappointed when the coach said you couldn't play football too. Your pranks may been good but everyone always talked about _mine_. I've only been dead for a few weeks and already I know how to make myself visible and invisible when I want to and here you are; a ghost for thirteen years and you can't even figure that out. Face it Gabriel, I'm better than you and you hate me for that."

"That's not true!" Gabriel hissed, "I don't hate you I love you! And that's what's so shitty about me is that I love you so much I can't bring myself to hate you, Lucifer! You're my brother!"

"You say that like it's the most important thing in the world. So what if I'm your brother? Cassie couldn't bring himself to look at me every time he visited and I never laid a hand on him. I _killed you_. Why is being your brother so god damn important?!"

"Because you always looked out for me! You always took care of me when mom and dad couldn't! You were my best friend, and it's so difficult for me to just accept that you're not my brother anymore and to just toss all that shit out the window! I can't do it! What I don't understand is-I-why did you kill me?!" He started to choke but refused to let the tears fall from his eyes, "I just don't understand! Why me, Lucifer?! I thought you loved me too...why..."

For a split moment Lucifers face contorted from menacing monster back to a nine year old boy realizing that he had actually hurt someones feelings and felt guilty about it.  
"I don't know..." He said, "I don't know why..."

Gabriels fingers loosened around his brothers collar and suddenly the world felt more peaceful than it ever had in all of his years of living. Maybe he really could fix everything-

"Oh, wait," His dark eyes flashed, "I remember now; it's because you're a disgusting homosexual."

His heart fell and everything crumbled before his eyes again. That was it. Gabriel was done with trying. He didn't care what happened to Lucifer, even if it hurt his own heart to see it. He hoped Castiel and Dean were getting ready to burn the necklace already. He wanted Lucifer gone. He wanted him gone for good so he couldn't hurt him, Sam, or anyone else ever again. Lucifer was _bad _and no amount of shouting and crying or punching was going to fix him. He was broken beyond repair. He took a quick glance at Sam over his shoulder to remind himself who he was fighting for.

He looked so small and helpless and terrified all at once. He was relying on Gabriel to get him home safe and that was exactly what he was going to do. In that moment he felt like he had all the power in the world. He could make Lucifer burn under his fingers and vanish forever. With a swell of confidence burning in his gut he swung his head back around to give Lucifer his just desserts when he was met with a fist to the face.

His head bobbled and he felt his body being pushed back to the floor. A heavy foot landed on his chest as his brain bounced back and forth inside his skull. When he opened his eyes the room spun and he could see his brothers face looming above him. Gabe tried to sit up so he could spit in Lucifers face. He was still clinging to the hope that Cas and Dean were tossing the necklace into a fire at this very moment.

"You think you're so smart," He said, "But I bet you weren't expecting one thing..." his sentence trailed off and he waited for his brother to erupt into flames. But nothing came. The room was quiet and everyone waited for a something to happen that wouldn't come.

"What?"  
"Just...just wait a second."  
"...What?"  
"They should have gotten it by now..."

"What in the world-_oh," _Lucifers blonde eyebrows arched and he toyed with something he had in his pocket, "I know what you're talking about...Looking for this, Gabriel?" He held up his hand and dangling between his fingers was an old silver necklace with his name written on the front a pair of angel wings on the back. All the hope Gabriel had left died out. "And I don't think I'm smart, I know I am. Honestly, Gabriel, you didn't think I would know you would attempt to get rid of me? You silly rabbit," He cooed playfully, "tricks are for kids...Now, Sammy, where were-"

Lucifer was cut off before he could even turn to face Sam.

While Gabriel had been occupying Lucifers attention Sam had manged to move the shard of glass along the floor with his foot. He moved it around to were his hands could reach and worked on cutting the rope confining him. Once he was free, he looked around the room for any kind of weapon that he could use against Lucifer. He didn't spot anything besides dusty boxes. He decided it was best to just attack with his fists. It would be foolish but it would at least buy him and Gabriel time.

Using all the strength his six foot tall body could muster he collided into Lucifer, knocking him to the ground. The ghost hissed at him. Sam bit down on his tongue to distract himself from the burning his skin was feeling from Lucifers ice cold body. Lucifer disappeared before they hit the ground and Sam fell with a hard thud. Without hesitating he got to his knees to help Gabriel up.

"Gabe, Gabe, c'mon, man we gotta go."  
"Sam," He gripped for his arm, "Sam run. You gotta run. Cas and Dean will protect you but you gotta-"  
"I'm not leaving you here with him, now come on we don't have much time!"  
"Sam-"  
"Don't argue with me, Gabriel! Now!" He pulled on Gabriels arm to get him to stand but he might as well be dead weight. He got the ghost on his feet however and began pulling him towards the storm cellar door that lead outside.

* * *

"Oh, _shit,_ oh, shit, shit, shit, shit_, Dean_!"  
Castiel was pacing back and forth along the grave, his hands wresting in his hair and his eyes bugging out of his head. "What are we gonna do?!"

"I-I dunno..." His voice was as shaken as his hands.

"We can't just-We have to do something!"  
"I know..."  
"We can't just leave Gabriel with Lucifer! He'll kill him and it'll destroy Sam!"  
"I know, Cas..."  
"I'm not loosing Gabriel-I-I just can't! I mean I know he's an ass and he's dead and stuff but I-I can't loose him again I-"  
"Dammit, Cas! I'm tryin' to think!"

He stopped pacing and let the sleeves of his trench coat fall over his hands as he gazed over the top of Deans head. He ran a hand through his sandy hair and breathed hard out of his mouth. He was looking hard at Lucifers body.

After a few moments of silence he let his hand drop and he met Cas's gaze. "Welp," He sighed, "We gotta burn the son'a bitch."

"B-Burn? Like burn his body?"

"Yep." He pushed himself out of the grave to go retrieve the jug of gasoline out of the Impala.

"B-but, Dean," Castiel jogged after him, "how are you so sure that will work? What if we burn his body but the necklace still keeps him here?"

Dean shrugged, "We gotta at least try it. That book said that you could kill a ghost by burning its corpse or whatever the hell else was keepin' it here. Didn't say which you had to burn."

Cas was still uneasy.  
"But what if someone see's the flames?!"

"It's like three in the morning. Everyone's asleep. Besides there's no houses close enough to see our faces or the Impala. We'll be fine."

When Dean turned from the Impala with the jug in his hand he saw the anxiety on his boyfriends face and noted that perhaps it wasn't the fear of getting caught that was bothering him. He sighed again, "Look, Cas, we gotta save Sammy. And if we're gonna save that asshat Gabriel too this is our best and only shot. I know Lucifer's your brother too and it's kinda weird to be burnin' up his body but...he...shit how do I put this..." He ran a hand through his hair nervously again, his tongue stumbling over the right words to say.

Castiel tilted his head slightly towards his shoulder before pressing a quick peck on Deans lips. His stomach was still knotted with anxiety which made him feel sick but he knew this was the right thing for them to do. "I understand, Dean..."

Dean tried not to blush as a smirk tugged at his lips. With his free hand he took Castiels and together they walked back to the open grave.

"You know, Cas," Dean tried to make light of the situation as they walked, "out of all your siblings...I think Gabriel might actually be my favorite."

Castiel laughed lightly, "Why is that? I thought you liked Micheal. You two are alike in some ways."

Dean shook his head, "Nah. Mikes a little too uptight. Besides he made fun of me for working as a mechanic remember?"

"Ah, yes, that is true. And Anna?"  
"Well, Anna _is_ nice. Most of the time. But Gabriel...I dunno. I like him. Even if he is an arrogant dick. He can be kinda funny. And he makes Sammy happy. From what I've heard anyway."

Castiel nodded in agreement. "It is kind of comforting to know that after all these years my brother hasn't changed a bit. He's just as I remember him. Cocky, and sarcastic, but kind and sweet. If you're on his nice list he'll love you with all his heart."

"Hmmm...yeah...I'm actually kinda glad Sammy found him. Even if it did lead him up to being in this mess. I'm glad he's got your brother."  
"And I'm glad my brother has yours."

Dean took his hand out of Castiels and swung his arm around his shoulder, squeezing it tightly. "You're too good for me, you know that?"

Castiel shook his head, his smile had fallen slightly, "Don't say that, Dean. You're perfect. We make each other whole, let's just leave it at that."

Dean pressed a kiss to his slightly stubbled cheek and said, "all right, Cas. All right."

He stood on the other side of the grave, opposite of Cas, and the side where Lucifers corpse was accessible. He had to lean over a little to dump the gasoline over it but once he was done he sat back and stared at it, tracing over the package of matches in his pocket with his thumb. Castiel was pretending not to pay attention by glaring hard at the other head stones and stone sculptures of angels around them.  
Finally flicking out the box, Dean scratched the red head of a match. He stared at the orange flame for a moment. He then glanced to Castiel. He glanced to the street that would later take them home in the Impala where they would pass Oak Street and look at Cas's old house with a flicker of hope in their hearts that their last mintue plan B worked. They would get out of the Impala and run around the house, calling for their brothers.

Deans green eyes flicked back to Lucifers pale dead face. He was in his thirties but he looked as peaceful and young as Sam does when he sleeps. His mother had him dressed in a black suit with a tie laying down his chest and his hands were folded neatly across his stomach. Castiel had told him and Gabriel that he remembered specifically that his mother had laid Lucifers silver dog tag necklace inside the velvet coffin beside his brother during the ceremony when everyone was allowed to view him and say their goodbyes. Dean wondered where it was now.  
That thought was almost instantly pushed out of his mind as a flash of Sams face crossed his mind. He didn't want to think about his baby brother being in this position but the thought was there and he couldn't stop thinking about it. It made him angry. Sam was his responsibility and he couldn't let that happen to him. White heat coursed through his veins and he suddenly felt every fiber of anger being pin pointed towards Lucifer Novak. If Sam died it would be by Lucifers hands, and he would do everything in his power to keep that from happening. He didn't realize that his eyes had turned into cold, hard slits like a crocodiles, and, as he flicked the match out from his fingers and towards the coffin, he was almost shocked to hear his voice come out so gruff and deep when he said to the corpse,

"Adios, bitch."

* * *

It all happened so fast.

One moment he was holding Gabriels hand and the next he felt a horrible pain shooting up his body from his side. It nearly missed his stomach. His vision was blurred with tears and his brain was shooting sparks. He crumpled to the ground in a loud cry and he thought he heard Gabriel say something but he wasn't sure. He felt whatever it was go into him be tugged out and he gasped out another cry. His hands pressed against the pain and when he held them in front of his face he saw them covered in dark red sticky blood. He trembled at the sight of it and felt his face pale.

"That's it, Luci," Gabriel stepped over Sam, "I dare you to touch him again."

"Oh, dear, I'm practically_ trembling_," Lucifer replied sarcastically, "once I get that necklace off his neck you'll be history, brother."

"You're not touching him!" He roared.

Lucfiers eyes narrowed dangerously. "It's not like you're going to be able to save him anyway," He played with the glass in his hand. The tip dyed dark with blood, "he'll bleed out before you even _try_ to hurt me."

"You know, he'll just become a ghost too-"  
"Oh, I'm aware. And once I see him fly out of that moose body of his I'll keep him around. At least until his brother finds him here."  
"_You're sick_."  
"If you think flattery will make me postpone your eternal damnation, Gabriel you've got another thing coming."

Sam groaned at his feet and Gabriels face contorted into worry and he looked over his shoulder down at him. "It's okay, Sam," He whispered, "just hang in there, okay?"

"Don't lie to him," Lucifer rolled his eyes, "You'll both be dead before the sun rises."

"The only one dying tonight is you."  
"That is highly unlikely, Gabriel."  
"Wanna bet?"

Lucifer threw his head back and laughed, he pointed the sharp glass at him and waved it up and down, "Now, _that_ was funny."

Gabriel was practically shaking with anger now and he didn't know what to do with it. Nothing he could do would make Lucifer banish forever like he wanted him to. He felt trapped and alone and afraid. He had told Dean that if anything were to go wrong he was to show up here and get Sam home, but he didn't want him to find Sam like this. Dean trusted him to keep Sam safe and he had failed. He wished that his life could be more like a fairy tale. Where the villian would be defeated in the last act of bravery from the hero, and his fairy god mother could come down and grant him his wishes. He already knew what he would wish for. He would wish for Sam to be all right, and he would wish to be alive again.  
But this wasn't a fairy tale.

Lucifer almost seemed insulted that Gabriel wasn't laughing with him. He stuck out his bottom lip in a pout and walked slowly up to his brother, bopping his nose with his pointer finger playfully. Gabriel scrunched up his face at the touch.

"Aw," He said, "poor, poor, Gabey. Did you actually think you would be able to live with Sam for the rest of your life? He would have eventually out grown you, Gabriel. I can see it now...A few years down the road and he's going to college. You two would get into some petty fight and that would be it. Sam would be done with you. He'd leave town, hell, he may had left Kansas. He'd leave your dog tag behind and you would be all on your own again. Sound about right?"

"You're wrong." He growled through his teeth, "You couldn't be more wrong."

"_Wake up_." Lucifer snapped, "You're _dead_. You really think he would have wanted to date a dead guy his whole life?"

"You're such a dick!" Gabriel blurted. His brother just rolled his eyes.

"Oh, you really got me with that one."

"Why can't you just-"

Gabriel was stopped when a bright light suddenly burst through Lucifers middle. The moment it happened Lucifer started screaming. It seemed slow at the time, standing there and watching it,but it reality the light spread quickly around Lucifers stomach, eating away at him. It was bright and orange like a flame and it danced around the poorly lit room, illuminating Lucifers pale face as he screamed and before the caramel eyes that watched him in horror. He began to deteriorate for good. The lower half of his body crumbled into ash on the floor. Lucifer still fought. "If I'm going, _so are you_." He flung himself at his brother and Gabriel yelped, trying squirm away from him as he clawed at his face and jacket. The light was hot and Gabe could feel it burning him as the rest of Lucifer engulfed into flame. He let out a cry as the burns stung him but the feeling was almost gone as soon as it was felt. He fell to his knees, trying to catch his breath and comprehend what he had just witnessed.

Once he had watched the ash all collected onto the floor Gabriel turned to look at Sam with a toothy smile. "They did it, Kiddo! Dean and Cas-they-Kid-! Sam?" The smile imminently fell when he saw-he _really_ saw-his condition. He was laying on the ground, his back propped up against the wall and his hands overflowing with blood. He looked up to meet Gabriels eyes. His mouth felt dry and his tongue clicked in his mouth as he spoke softly,

"Th-there's a lot a blood..."

"Oh, Jesus Christ-shit, shit, Sam! Shit!" Gabriel crawled over to him, he held out his hands as though he was meaning to put pressure on the wound but then he jerked them back, coiling his fingers against his palms. He wasn't sure what to do.

"I'm-I'm okay..." Sam told him, his face was draining by the minute, "Are-are you okay, G-Gabe?"

"I'll be okay, kiddo..." Gabriel forced a smile "I'm...peachy...but...but we gotta get you home...we gotta get you home, Kiddo..." his eyes were beginning to water with salty wet tears as he rambled. Sam didn't seem like he was really listening. He reached up a blood soaked hand and grazed his fingertips against the ghosts cheek, leaving a few crimson streaks scratched down his face.

Gabriel didn't care. He hardly even noticed. He was caressing Sam's face gently with his soft palm, trying his best to hold back the tears that threatened to break the barrier behind his eyes. Sam just smiled. He wasn't even crying. Gabriel inched closer to him and wrapped his arms around his shoulders, pulling him into his lap to cradle him. Sam looked up at him with adoring green eyes.

"I love you." he said, brushing away a strand of golden hair. "I love you, Gabe..."

"I love you too...heh...I guess...It really was just dumb luck that brought us together huh? If-If it wasn't for this dumb luck we wouldn't be in this mess..."

"No, no, Gabriel..." Sam shook his head slowly, like it hurt, but he was still smiling. "Don't say that...It was destiny..." Gabriels smile widened and his dimples dented his cheeks.

"I know," He said. "I just wanted to hear you say it."

Sam laughed. Gabriels tears trickled down his face and pelted the his forehead. Biting his lip to swallow a sob as he watched the boys chest move slowly up and down, his fingers slightly twitching. Gabe took his hand and held it tightly, smoothing his thumb along Sams rough palm.

"We're gonna get you home all right?" His lip trembled, "you're gonna get home safe and sound...and we're gonna watch all those monster movies you love so god damn much, all right?"

"I dunno if I like monster movies so much anymore...Now that I've lived one..."  
Gabriel choked on a laugh, "You don't really mean that do you?"  
"Naw...I still gotta show you...Creature From...The Black Lagoon..."  
"I wouldn't miss it for the world..."

His weak laughter died out and the flicker of smiles went with it. Sams mood changed entirely.

"Don't leave me." He said weakly.

"I don't plan on it."

"Gabriel...I'm scared..."

"Shhh...kiddo...its okay..." Gabriel brushed his fingers along Sams grubby face, "It's okay to be scared...sometimes...But-but you don't have to be scared right now, okay? I've got you now...It's gonna be okay..."

Sam sniffed and nodded, the tears that had been filling his eyes were now pouring out like a leak in a faucet. He cringed, his grip on Gabriels hand tightening. "Why did you come here?" he croaked. "Why? You should have just stayed, Gabriel...Stayed at home...Stay safe..."

"Oh, Sammich, I couldn't do that...I couldn't just leave you here."  
"Why-" his breath got caught in his lungs for a moment. He sputtered, "Why-did you tell Lucifer...you wanted to trade...places with me...?

Gabriel grinned and forced a giggle.

"It...It was just the heat of the moment, kiddo."


	13. Chapter 13: A Nightmare on Oak Street

**Chapter 13: A Nightmare on Oak Street**

Sam had stopped speaking but his body was still warm and his chest was still rising and falling. Gabriel ran shaky fingers through his brown hair, whispering empty promises he knew somewhere inside of him he most likely couldn't keep.

_Don't think like that, _he scolded himself, _he's fine. He's going to be fine. _

Sams eyes were closed. He was surrounded in a pool of his blood.

Gabriel kept his palm pressed against the dark stain in Sams shirt, trying to stop the flow, but it was still oozing between the cracks in his fingers. He tried to press harder against the wound but when he did Sam would let out a gut wrenching sound that made his heart hurt. He was afraid of hurting him even more.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered, "I'm so, so sorry, kiddo. It wasn't supposed to be like this. You're not supposed to die like this. You're supposed to graduate from high school and go off to college and your monster movies will be shown all over the world. You'd probably visit a lot of places too. Be the first person to get out of this damn town," he choked on a laugh, "...I wish...I wish circumstances were different, Sam...I wish I wasn't dead, and I wish Lucifer was sane. I wish-I wish I coulda been born twelve years later so we coulda grown up together...you know? We could have had a good life together. We would have painted this town red...Yeah...just you and me..."

Sam made a choking gasping sound and a lump was caught in Gabriels throat. He moved his hand away from his hair to grasp for Sam's hand. He felt like he should cry but all the tears had been cried out. He kept talking for Sam's sake.

"Just...just listen to my voice, kiddo. Just listen. I had to listen to my brothers fight when I died I'm not letting you go like that. I want you to know that I love you. I love you so much, Sam. I didn't want you to be a ghost like me...I never wanted you to be...I tried...I tried so hard you gotta know that. You have so much to look forward to. Jo and Barry...your monster stories...Dean and Cas...You're so lucky, Sam. You're so lucky to have people in your life like them. People who care about you so much they're willing to listen to some crack story from a ghost. Oh...Dean's going to kill me when he sees you..."

Dean had trusted him. Gabriel had one thing to do; keep Sam safe. Get Sam home. He couldn't even do that. Dean trusted him to take care of his little brother and he most likely just broke that trust. Dean wouldn't want to be in the same room with him ever again. Dean would hate him.

A dull roar of a car outside made Gabriel jump. He swallowed the lump in his throat, looking up at the ceiling as though it would help him hear better. The car sounded close. And it sounded like ACDC was playing loudly. A flicker of hope sparked in Gabriels chest. "I'll be right back, Sam," He told him, making sure to set him carefully down on the ground to scramble up the steps Sam had just tried escaping from before Lucifer stabbed him. He shoved open the celler door and nearly tripped on the last step while running outside into the snow. He looked towards the street to see a black car parked next to the sidewalk outside the house.

There was a figure standing in front of the headlights, he was nothing but a black silhouette. He seemed to be waiting for the other figure to get out of the drivers side of the car. The hope was now burning in his heart.

"Cassie!" He screamed loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear, "Castiel! Castiel! Dean!" Castiels head snapped away from the driver and towards the sound of his name being called bloody murder. Gabriel was waving frantically for their attention. Dean was now stepping out of the car, one hand on the door and his gaze locked onto Gabriel. "Hurry! Over here! Help!"

Dean was sprinting. He didn't even bother to run to the gate, he jumped the chain link fence with Castiel not far behind him.

Gabriel leaned back down into the celler to call to Sam, "Kiddo! Dean's here! You're going to be okay! Just hold on a little longer, Kiddo!"

Sam just coughed.

"Cas is here too! You're gonna be just fine, Sam! I told you! Just hold on!"

When he pulled his head back out from the cellar Dean nearly knocked him over. He had tried skidding to a stop but had been running too fast and his shoes slid on the snow. Gabriel stumbled and Dean caught him. "What happened." He growled.

"Sa-Sam..." He sputtered, suddenly unable to speak, "Sam he's...blood. There's blood every-" At the mention of blood Dean shoved Gabriel out of the way and stormed down into the cellar. He didn't seem interested in anything else the ghost had to tell him.

"_Jesus_!" He heard him shout when he saw Sam. Gabriel swallowed against the lump in his throat, an ugly knot resting in the pit of his stomach. "Sam! Sammy wake up!"

Gabriel didn't even notice he was trying to get back into the basement until his brother grabbed a hold of his arm and pulled him back. Castiel was stoned faced and his eyes flicked up from his head, and to his toes and back again. "Gabriel," he said gravely, "you're covered in blood."

"Oh," Gabriel looked down at himself like he didn't understand how it got there. He lifted his hands to inspect them. They had been dyed dark red.

"Gabriel," Cas gasped at the sight of them, "Gabriel what on earth happened?"

"...He-he's in a lot of trouble, Cassie."

Dean emerged from the cellar, cradling a limp Sam in his arms. Castiels face contorted into horror at the look of Sams state. "Oh, Sam..." He breathed.

"We're going to the hospital." Dean announced before taking off towards the Impala.  
"W-wait! Dean!" Was all Castiel could say. He seemed too shocked to move. He was still trying to register what was going on when Gabriel hurried off after Dean. When he noticed that Gabriel was trailing behind him he called to him, telling him to pick it up so he could come and open the back door for Sam. He did as he was asked and once Sam was sat comfortably inside, Gabriel slid in next to him. Dean slammed the drivers side door shut when getting in. The engine roared loudly when he slammed his foot on the gas. He almost took off with Castiel not even fully in the car.

"Dean!" Cas scolded as the Impala screeched down the road. He struggled to pull the door shut, "You're not thinking straight!"

"My brothers bleeding to death in the back of my car! You expect me to be thinking straight?!"  
"Just-just calm down. You need to calm down before we get into an accident or something-"  
"Shut up, Cas."  
"_Don't_ tell me to shut up, Dean Winchester so help me God-"

"Don't start this guys," Gabriel barked at them, "Please don't."

With a grumble of apology from Dean the two silenced.

Gabriel turned back to Sam, smiling softly. He couldn't help himself. That flicker of hope was now a raging enferno burning inside his chest and he actually thought that Sam would be okay. But a dark voice in the back of his mind that sounded a lot like Lucifer told him otherwise. He continued to comb his fingers through Sams hair, speaking calm thoughts to him again. "You're gonna be okay now..." he was saying this more for himself than Sam now, "you're gonna make it."

"Gabriel." Dean spoke up from the front.  
"Yeah?"  
"You mind tellin' us what the hell happened."

* * *

Sam was rushed away on a bed with paper sheets almost as soon as the three set foot in the emergency room of the hospital. He was swallowed into a hallway hidden by two white doors , surrounded by doctors and nurses talking about things Gabriel didn't understand because they were all talking at once. The loud squeaking of the wheels rolling the bed away echoed in his ears loudly. That was the last they had seen of him.

Gabriel and Castiel now sat in the waiting room on green plastic chairs. Gabriel didn't like sitting here. It was all too white and it smelled too clean. The chair was uncomfortable and the only other things in the room was a clock on the wall and a vending machine on the other side. Dean talked to a doctor outside the room, but was still in view of the brothers. Castiel watched him through the glass wall next to him, his blue eyes squinted. As Castiel listened Gabriel worried.

According to the clock it was now three forty five.

His heart was pounding, and an ugly feeling knotted in the pit of his stomach. He wanted to know where Sam was and what they were doing to him. He wanted to hear from the doctors that he was going to be fine and that they could fix him. He needed to hear these things or else all this worrying was going to kill him.

"Would you like a water?"

He jumped slightly at being addressed. Gabriel had already forgotten that he was visible to everyone around him, and he wasn't quite used to it yet. He was going to have to start reminding himself.  
The person who had offered him water was a young nurse with a curtain of black hair. Her lips were split into a friendly ruby smile, and her hands held two paper cups of water. Her name tag read Tessa.

"Oh, yes, thank you." Gabriel took the paper cup and held it to his lips, taking a long swig of it. when he held it back down she asked him in a whisper,  
"Wouldn't you like to go home and change? You're covered in blood..."

He shook his head, "I want to stay with Sam." He told her this like she knew him.

She merely smiled at him and nodded, like she understood. She then offered Castiel water too before walking away.

Gabriel looked down into his cup. "You think he'll be okay?"

"Don't know." Castiel answered, eyes still locked onto Dean, "Doctor Barnes hasn't said anything about Sam yet. Dean's still telling her what happened."

"What?" Gabriel looked up in surprise, "He-he's telling her?! She's going to think he's insane! We'll all be locked in the nuthouse-"

Castiel just shook his head slowly, "No. He's not telling her about Lucifer. He's making one up. Sort of. He's telling her that Sam was kidnapped and we had been looking for him all day because you're not allowed to file a missing person until they've been gone for forty eight hours. He's saying that we split up and you found him first. Dean isn't dumb."

"Oh," Gabriel relaxed slightly, sitting back in his chair. "...Castiel?"

"Hmm?"  
"How are mom and dad?"

Cas was startled by this question so much he actually turned his attention away from Dean and the doctor to face his brother. He hesitated for a while, but not in an awkward way. More like in a way where he was thinking of a long and good answer that Gabriel would like to hear. "They're good." He said finally, "they weren't at first of course. It took them a long time to even start talking about you again. When I was eight I went through a phase where I even wondered if you ever really existed. Like, I thought you were just some funny childhood dream I had. No one hardly ever mentioned you. It was like you had never existed. But it all become real again when we started visiting Lucifer. Mom and Dad started talking about you again. They would tell me all the funny things you did when you were little, and the things that drove Mom nuts...It took them a while, but they're good. A little less good now that Lucifer is gone too...But good."

"And Anna and Micheal?"

Castiel bobbed his head in a nod, "They're good too. Mike stayed with us for a while after the move but he soon went back to college. Anna refused to visit Lucifer the first few times we did but eventually she started coming along. I was always forced to go. Mikes married. Anna's married. They both met Dean and they like him all right. Micheal's a lawyer. Anna's a vet. They're great."

"Good." A weight felt like it had been lifted off of Gabriels chest, a small weight, but a weight, "that's good. I'm glad."

"They all miss you," Cas added quietly, "you don't come up often, but whenever the family is all together we always talk about you. On your birthday Mother buys flowers and puts them on the windowsill in the kitchen."

"You don't ever visit my grave?"

He shook his head slowly, "They don't like to. It hurts them too much. We tried to go once when I was ten I think...but Dad had to walk back to the car as soon as your grave was in sight."

Gabriel pressed his head against the wall behind him and sighed out of his nose. They didn't speak after that. Instead they sat in comfortable silence with their arms touching. It was nice to feel that the person next to you was really there and that they were a person too.

When Dean came into the waiting room to join them he collapsed onto the seat across from Castiel. He ran a hand over his face and kept it there, hiding his eyes from Cas and Gabriel.

"What did she say?" Gabriel breathed, "He's gonna be okay, right?"

"She..." He sighed, "She doesn't know yet. It's too early to...he's lost a lot of blood and she says she's gonna see what they can do to save him but-" His voice broke off and he stood up, pacing back and forth three times before announcing that he had to call Bobby. Gabriel could see the sparkle of tears threatening to burst out of his green eyes as he left the waiting room and vanished behind a white wall where the payphone was. He knew that Dean was crying when he called his uncle.

"Is he going to call John too?"

"Maybe." said Castiel, "Though I'm not sure if he would really want to deal with John at the moment. They didn't exactly part on good terms. He might tell John eventually, but not now."

He nodded slowly, turning back around to face the wall in front of him.

The taunting voice in the back of Gabriels mind reminded him again that he shouldn't get his hopes up too high. The burning inferno of hope was now withering away in his chest. His fingernails scratched the hard plastic of the chair arm and he glared at the clock, trying to think of anything else other than Sam dying. Castiel didn't talk to him any more. He just stared hard at the wall Dean had disappeared behind. It seemed like he was contemplating whether or not to go after him and comfort him or if it was best to just remain here with his brother, but before he could get up Dean was already back. He was rubbing the back of his neck as he walked in, his eyes rimmed red. Gabriel hadn't noticed how dirty his face was until he saw the clean streaks the water had pushed away. Dean sat back down in his seat, his arms drooping in between his legs as he tilted his head to look at the white brick of wall at the other side of the room.

"Bobby will be here soon." He told them, "He's going to pick up some extra clothes for me and Gabriel, and then he'll be on his way."

"Me?" Gabriel pointed to his chest.

"Yes, you, asshat," Deans eyes flicked quickly from the wall, to Gabriel, and back to the wall again, "unless you actually want to sit here covered in my brothers blood all damn day."

"Oh. No. I guess not."

And that was all that was said.

* * *

No one spoke. It was now nearing four twenty and nothing had been heard about Sam, Bobby hadn't shown up yet, and the only sound of talk came from the nurses outside the waiting room.

Dean sat with his legs bouncing in a quick unstoppable rhythm, his elbows placed on his knees and his palms cupping his jaw with his trembling fingers folded over his mouth. His eyes hadn't stopped staring at the wall. Gabriel didn't think he even blinked.  
Castiel on the other hand was sitting with his body angled towards the door that had swallowed Sam not even an hour ago. His hands were cupped neatly in his lap and his blue eyes squinted hard at the white doors. It was as though he was waiting for the moment Sam was going to run out to them and say that he was perfectly fine. It all seemed like a dream.  
Gabriel was restless. He couldn't sit still and his eyes couldn't rest on just one thing for long. He kept squirming in his seat, originally he was just sitting as a normal person would, but he got bored with this. He swung his legs over the black plastic of the chair arm, pressing his back against the other side. He then switched, swinging his legs over the other chair arm, counting the ceiling tiles. Once he counted them all and tucked one leg under his bottom and traced patterns on the floor with his other shoe. He then sank so low in the chair his head was barely touching the back of the chair, and his back was laying flat on the seat of it. His legs were kicked out in front of him, making an obstacle in the aisle between him and the free seat next to Dean. He studied the tops of his sneakers for a long time, never really noticing how old they looked before. Once he was bored with this, he hugged his knees to his chest, curling up in a ball on the chair and pressing his cheek against the hard plastic arm. But after a while of this, it started to hurt his back. He was just starting to sit up again when he was shouted at by Dean.

"Jesus Christ, Gabriel. Can't you friggen sit still for five seconds?!"

He froze as soon as Dean raised his voice at him. And if he had half a mind he would snap back with something witty, but he simply wasn't feeling up for it. All he could manage was a glare that Dean most likely couldn't see because he was back to staring at the wall. He sank back in his chair and folded one leg over his other, tapping his fingers against the arm. He eventually got bored of this as well, but didn't move in fear of getting yelled at a second time.

Gabriel rolled his ankle in small circles impatiently. He was bored and worried about Sam. He wished someone would at least come out and give them updates. But perhaps no news was good news in this case. Still, some kind of good news would ease his worrying.

Bobby showed up not long before four thirty. He carried a grocery bag in his hand and his face was pale. As soon as Dean heard him walk in, he was on his feet and wrapping him in a tight hug. Bobby said something inaudible to him, patting him hard on the back.

They parted and Dean was nodding his head at what Bobby had said. Gabriel wondered what they were talking about. He didn't get the chance to find out because Bobby shoved the grocery bag into Deans hands and said, "Here's your clothes. Go get cleaned up in a bathroom somewhere before someone calls the police on ya or something."

"Thanks, Bobby. C'mon Gabriel."

Gabriel got up to follow Dean when he was stopped by Bobby. "Jesus, kid," he said, "you're a mess!"

Gabriel looked down at himself, acting as though he didn't know what on earth he was talking about. He seemed to keep forgetting that his hands and shirt were dyed crimson. "Sorry..." was all that fell out of his mouth.

"Go get cleaned up, ya idjit."

Gabriel followed Dean to the nearest bathroom where he was handed a tshirt and jeans. "Sorry if they don't fit," Dean told him, not meeting his eyes, "I told Bobby you were smaller than us. But..."

"It's fine," Gabriel stopped him, "thank you."

They went into separate stalls and Gabriel tore off his green jacket and white shirt. He hadn't noticed how bad it was. It seemed like Sam had bled more on him than on the floor. He tossed the shirt down on top of his jacket and pulled on a shirt that was too loose for him. When he looked down at it he saw that it was actually Sams old Batman shirt. He knew it was Sams because he had seen him wear it only once before. It was loose but it was nice, and Gabriel felt comforted to have a piece of Sam with him.  
He decided not to wear the extra pair of jeans because he knew there was no way they were going to fit him, and his jeans weren't even stained that bad. So he wrapped them up with his jacket and shirt, and met Dean outside his stall. He shoved the clothes into the grocery bag before heading over to the sink.

The warm water burned his skin as he scrubbed hard at the blood sticking to his hands. He felt like he couldn't be clean until all the scarlet washed down the drain. The bubbles and water were all dyed red as soon as they came in contact with his skin.  
Once it all whirred down the drain, he looked up and jumped to see his reflection staring back at him.

He couldn't remember the last time he had seen his own face. His face was dirty and his hair looked messier than he liked it to be. He could see how Sams shirt drooped off his arm and exposed his pale shoulder. He grabbed it and put it back into its place without removing his gaze from the mirror. There was blood on his face. He raised a trembling hand to touch the four smears of blood scratched down his cheek. Gabriel almost forgot how they got there. Sams face flashed in the mirror in front of him like a movie screen. He could see the memory playing out; Sams shaking, bloody hand reaching for his face. A forced smile playing at his lips, trying to make Gabriel believe that everything was going to be just fine. The memory gave an ugly tug at his heart.

"Hey," Dean called, "You all right?"

"Y-yeah..." He turned to Dean and then back to the mirror, "Just...I just haven't seen my own face in thirteen years is all."

Dean damped a paper towel under the facet and handed it to Gabriel, who snatched it and rubbed it against the marks until it burned his skin. He wanted it gone. He wanted it all gone. If he scrubbed hard enough maybe the memory would be gone too.

They left the bathroom once they were finished and were quiet up until they reached the waiting room. "Are you hungry?" Dean asked, fishing for something in his pocket.

"No."

"Well here," He gave him a dollar in quarters, "for later then. Don't spend it all in one place."  
"Thanks." Gabriel murmured, trying to see the light in the situation. He closed his fingers around the silver pressed in his palm before shoving them into his own pocket. Dean walked away towards the vending machine and when he came back he was sporting two Twix candy bars. He handed one to Castiel before taking his seat next to Bobby, and eating his own.

"Sorry about the clothes, kid," Bobby said to Gabriel, "Dean said you were little. I've never met you before so that's all I had to go by. I grabbed the smallest thing Sam had and hurried here."

"It's fine," He said for what felt like the millionth time, "I understand. Really."

"Gabriel," Cas leaned over to whisper to him, "would you like to switch clothes with me? I think mine would fit you better."

"_No way_, Jose," He uttered, clutching the shirt in his hands, "I'm not lettin' you have my Sammich's shirt."

"What's your name again?" Bobby interrupted the brothers just as Castiel was opening his mouth to retort.

"Uh...Gabriel..?" He answered, confused because he was certain Dean had already told him his name.

"Not your first name, ya idjit. You're _last name_. I never caught your last name."

_A last name?_  
He turned to his brother, uncertain of how he was going to answer this. He couldn't say his real last name because that was also Castiel's and it would just seem weird and suspicious to have the same exact name of Castiels dead brother-even though he was-_stop you're just confusing yourself. Just think of a name already, you're hesitating too long. _  
He wracked his brains, searching for any common last name. Anything would do at thing point. The only name that popped up in his head though was his mothers maiden name.

"R-Rosen," He finally said, "Gabriel Rosen. Yeah."

"Rosen?" Bobby repeated, "I dunno any Rosens around here. You new to town?"

"Yes," The lie fell out of his mouth so easily.

"Just moved in in September," Castiel piped up, "He's home schooled too."

"I am?" Gabriel murmured, and Cas elbowed him hard in the ribs, "-Oh, yes. I am! Yep. I have _perfect_ attendance too." He winked.

"If you're home schooled then how did you meet Sam?"  
Gabriel realized that Bobby probably knew about his and Sams relationship, and given that Bobby was the closest thing to a father figure the brothers had, this was some sort of interview. He wanted to see if Gabriel was good enough of Sam. _Oh jeez,_ he thought. He could recall going through quite a few of these with protective fathers when he would come to pick up their daughters at their houses. Usually his cockiness got the better of him and it didn't always end well.  
Bobby sat with his arms crossed over his chest and his fuzzy eyebrows narrowed, waiting for an answer.

_C'mon Gabey, you used to be so good a lying..._ "We uh-we met at the movie store," Gabriel said breezily, "yep. The movie store. Ah, I remember it well. We made a grab for Walk of The Living Dead at the same time. Our hands met, sparks flew, it was-" Another sharp jab in the side by Castiel cut him off, "-_oof.._.We've known each other since then. Just started dating a few weeks ago actually."

That felt weird to say. It didn't feel like a few weeks. It had felt like so much longer. It seemed like a year had already passed in just these short hours of Lucifer kidnapping Sam. Compared to that his relationship with Sam seemed a lifetime long.

Bobby grumbled something Gabriel didn't quite understand, but this seemed to be some sign of approval. Because he didn't ask any more questions, and he dug a magazine out from the basket beside him.

At this, everyone seemed to go back to their normal positions. Dean was glaring at the wall, Cas was angled towards the white doors, and Gabriel went back to squirming restlessly in his seat. Dean either didn't care anymore, or was too tired to yell at him.

* * *

It wasn't until five that Doctor Barnes came out again to talk to Dean.

Gabriel was practically climbing over his brother to watch them through the glass. Deans back was facing them and blocking them from viewing the doctor so it was difficult to see what they were talking about.

"You got anything?" He asked hopefully to Castiel.

"Nope."

"God damn, Dean," Gabriel grumbled, "move your ass."

Bobby just shook his head at them, hiding his face behind the fourth magazine he had been reading. Gabriel frowned at him before turning back to the glass.

"Why does she only talk to Dean anyway? Just 'cause he's his brother..."  
"Don't be selfish, Gabriel."  
"Selfish? I'm not being selfish. Dean's being selfish. Hogging Sam all to himself. Jeez. I just want to know how the kid's doing is all."

Not a moment too soon Dean was turning on his heel and heading back to the waiting room. Gabriel scrambled back into his seat, acting as though he was not just watching him and Doctor Barnes chatting.  
They all watched him walk in and sit down. Even Bobby sat down his magazine to give Dean a hopeful glance. But he didn't say anything to them. He simply sat down in his seat, and pressed his chin to his palm. Castiel, Gabriel, and Bobby all looked to each other, then back at Dean.

"Well?" Bobby asked, shifting in his seat to face him.  
"Well what?" Dean retorted.  
"What do you mean _well what_, you idjit?"

"What did Doctor Barnes say." Gabriel demanded, "How's Sam? He's all right, right?"

Dean cleared his throat loudly, and sat back in the chair, refusing to look at anyone. "You should all go to sleep. We're tired. We need to rest." He said this as though he was repeating the exact words he was told.

This frustrated Gabriel.  
He knew something about Sam and he wasn't going to tell them? Who did he think he was, just because he was Sam's brother meant he had special privileges or something? They were all here for Sam. Christ, they had been waiting for updates about him for an hour or so now and when he finally knows something he won't tell them? He told Gabriel himself that he wasn't the only one who loved Sam around here. So what? Now that was all changed?_ What a hypocrite._  
Something tight was caught in Gabriels throat and he was getting to his feet before he even knew what he was doing.

"Dean." He growled. This actually made Dean finally turn away from the wall. He had an annoyed look on his face, and Gabe wasn't really sure why. He didn't think he had been that annoying the past few hours. He hadn't even really said anything, "Dean I want you to tell us what Doctor Barnes told you."

"Well isn't that nice," he mocked, "and I want you to go sit your ass on that chair and go to sleep."

"Dean, you aren't being fair."  
"Fair? You want to talk about being fair?"  
"We're all worried about Sam! We've been waiting forever to hear something about him and now that you know you're not going to tell us?"

Dean was on his feet and he grabbed a hold of Sams shirt, tugging Gabriel out of the room. He dragged him down the hall until they were far out of ear shot or view of the waiting room. He slammed Gabriel against the wall, clenching the shirt in his fists. Gabriels feet were almost lifted off the ground.

"Listen here, you son of a bitch," He spat, "you want to know why I won't tell you huh? I'll tell you why." He fished into his pocket and when his hand reemerged it held the note Gabriel had written in between two fingers. Dean waved it front of his face as he spoke, "_this_. This is why. You know what you wrote in here, Gabriel? You said, '_don't screw up_.' And you know what, for the first time in my life, I didn't. I actually did something _right_. But you-you Gabriel, you promised-" He cut himself off, his head bowed towards his feet in fear of choking on tears when he was supposed to be looking tough. Once he collected himself he looked back towards the ghost, "-you promised me that this plan was going to work. You swore that there was no way this was going to go wrong. You promised Sam was going to safe! Now look where we are, Gabriel! _You _screwed up. I did my job. Look where you got us, huh?" He released Sams shirt, letting Gabriel fall down the wall with a thump on his butt. He looked up at Dean with round eyes, he already knew all this. He had already tortured himself with these thoughts, but it hurt worse hearing it from someone else.

"I'm not telling you," Dean continued, "because I hate you. I hate you so much right now, Gabriel I can't stand being in the same room as you. I can't even tolerate-" his throat got caught again, and he gulped hard. "I was trying to be nice before. I was trying so hard to put up with you for Sams sake, but I just can't...and I'm not telling Bobby and Cas because I don't want them to worry. The less they know the better. But I want the thought of Sam bleeding to death to eat you up from the inside because you know it's your fault."

"I'm sorry, Dean." Was all Gabriel managed to whisper.

"Yeah." He snorted, brushing away stray tears with the back of his arm. He looked at Gabriel as though he wanted to say more, but turned away and began walking back to the waiting room. Gabriel soon joined him.

When he came back everything was as he left it. Only Castiel bothered to lean over and ask what happened. Gabriel didn't respond. He merely curled back up into a ball on his chair, wrapping his arms around the black plastic and squishing his cheek against them, his head close to Castiel. He closed his eyes and nestled his face into Sam's shirt.  
That was when the smell hit him.

It was a familiar scent of what smelled like old library books masked by cologne, and also something sweet that Gabriel couldn't quite put his finger on. He hadn't exactly put a place or face to the scent before because he was always surrounded by it for the past three months. The sweet smell made his mouth water, and his stomach crave candy. The booky smell made him think of the stacks of books piled a mile high on an old wooden desk in a room that was home to him more than anywhere else he had ever lived in his life. And the cologne reminded him of secret sweet kisses in the middle of the night when neither one of the two people occupying the bed could sleep, and decided to have fun instead. These intimate memories boiled something hot in his abdomen.  
Once he smelled it this time, only one person came to mind. _Sam_. This was Sams smell and it made the ugly feeling in the pit of his stomach twist even more. He buried himself farther into the shirt, hoping to hide his tears as they escaped from his dry eyes.

Above him he could hear his brother thunk his head against the wall behind him and whisper, "This has been the weirdest day of my life."

* * *

Gabriel didn't wake up from his dreamless sleep until the sun was rising.

The sun was blinding his eyes by peeking through the window that was behind Bobby and Dean. He had a perfect view of the hospital parking lot. The sky was forming into a mandarin orange color as the sun was just beginning to peek up from the horizon. The rays covered Gabriels skin in a comforting warm blanket, and it was almost enough to make him go back to sleep. But his position had left some awful kinks in his neck and he needed to sit up and stretch.

He rubbed the back of his neck and looked blearily around the room. Nothing had really changed since he had fallen asleep. The vending machine was buzzing louder then he remembered it had been, and the neon lights were still lit, making the candy inside glow from the pink neon.  
The others were still asleep. Dean laid with his head leaned against the wall and his arms folded over his chest. He looked so serious this way. Like he slept like this on purpose to look intimidating even while sleeping. Castiel had his face hidden with the sleeves of his trench coat, and Bobby had a magazine laying over the bridge of his nose, covering his eyes.

He got up from his chair, reaching his arms towards the ceiling and popping the kinks in his back as he did so. He then walked to the vending machine. He fished out the quarters Dean had given him earlier that morning and pushed them into the slot with his thumb. He selected the bag of Skittles, and after they fell with a loud plop at the bottom of the machine he reached in and grabbed it.

Gabriel ripped open the bag and piled a handful of the fruity candy into his mouth, wondering aimlessly around the waiting room. The hospital was quiet, but the noises of doctors and nurses chatting could be heard dully down the hallway. Not to mention the only other person around the waiting room was a nurse at the front desk, watching a show on his mini television.

Feeling quite rebellious, and in the mood to piss of Dean, Gabriel decided to go exploring.

With one cocky look towards Dean, and another handful of skittles, Gabriel made his way towards the two identical white doors that had swallowed Sam all those hours ago. He didn't even glance at the nurse at the front desk. All he had to do was pretend he wasn't doing anything wrong at all and no one would notice him.  
He had phased through the doors by the time the commercial the mini T.V. was over.

The hallway was long and white. There were many doors and two elevators on either wall. He wondered if he would even be able to find Sam like this, but then figured that Dean could be waking up any minute now to discover him missing. Once Dean realized this there was no doubt in his mind that he would most likely rip his lungs out, so he might as well start looking.

_What could Dean do anyway? _he thought, _tell the nurses there's a ghost on the loose after his kid brother? _Please_. You're smarter than that, freckles._

He peered into the rooms one by one. First on one side, and then the other. He saw no sign of the shaggy haired moose, or any sign of stab victims being on this floor.  
He pressed the arrow pointing up on the wall next to the elevator. It light up orange and dinged when it was ready for him to get in. It was thankfully empty and he pressed the button to the second floor.

This floor was identical to the first in the sense that there didn't seem to be anyone around. But he took one look into a bedroom and saw a baby laying asleep in a plastic bed, and thought that Sam was probably not in this hallway.  
So he reached the end and walked off to another hall. It was just like the others, with hardly anyone around. He wondered if it had anything to do with it being so early in the morning.

The first few rooms he looked into in this hall were empty. With each glance into a dark and vacant room his heart panged harder inside his chest. He didn't know which was worse; not finding Sam at all, or finding him more dead than alive.

Just when he was starting to think it might be better to just go back to the waiting room and wait to hear something about visiting Sam, he spotted green and blue colored scrubs out of the corner of his eye.  
They were coming up on his left behind him, and he had exactly .2 seconds to make a game plan to escape being caught. He decided that the quickest and easiest way was to dive into the nearest room. He spotted a door open just a head of him and he darted into it, pressing his back against the wall.  
_Now would be a really good time to figure out how the hell you turn invisible, Gabriel._ He told himself. But it would be quite difficult to learn this skill without anyone else around to tell him he was visible or invisible.

He listened hard for the sound of two pairs of shoes clicking against the tile to pass him. Gabriel held his breath until the clicking and the dull chatter between the doctors faded away into nothing.  
Letting out a hard sigh of relief, he looked up to see who's room he had so rudely intruded to. He wasn't surprised to see that the person was asleep given that it was still quite early in the morning. But what had surprised him was the fact that this person looked very familiar, but it couldn't be Sam. Don't be ridiculous. Sam could never look so small in a hospital bed like that. Sam was all around tall with broad shoulders, and hands that could make an average coffee mug look like a smurfs tea cup. This person wasn't Sam. It just couldn't be.

But in his heart Gabriel knew he recognized that shaggy head of hair anywhere. He could see the birthmark on the side of his face, beside his nose and under his left eye, and the dimple on his chin. This was Sam Winchester. His Sam.  
He looked so frail and little sitting in this big white room he was almost unrecognizable. For a moment Gabriel couldn't breathe. He had been searching a good half an hour for Sam, and now that he had found him he wasn't exactly sure what to do. He was alive, which calmed his anxiety somewhat. But seeing Sam like this only made him feel worse about himself and the situation.

His knees felt like they had turned to jello as he took a step away from the wall.

"Hey, kiddo..." He whispered, wondering if Sam was even awake and could hear him. His hair was pushed out of his face and his arm was hooked up to two long tubes that were connected to two different bags that hung on what looked like a mobile hanger**. **One was filled with a clear liquid; he supposed this was water, and the other was filled with blood. A monitor beside him beeped loudly in a rhythmic pattern. It was beating to a tune Gabriel had listened to for many nights now while leaning against Sams chest. He walked slowly over to his side.

The blankets looked thin and uncomfortable. Gabriel would rather take him home were he could sleep peacefully in his own bed. He placed his hand over Sams empty fingers and ran his thumb along them. He was still warm. He could see that there were dark circles under his eyes, and he looked ill if anything else. He didn't speak to him. Mostly because he had no idea what to say. Gabriel simply held onto Sam's hand, threading his fingers in between the gaps.

He didn't remember falling asleep, but he when he woke up again his cheek was pressed against the thin mattress of the hospital bed, and his hand was still holding onto Sam. He wondered what time it was and whether Dean was awake and searching for him.

"Gabriel?" A voice croaked, making Gabe jump slightly. He bolted up right in the sitting position to see that Sam was finally awake. He looked just as tired as everyone else.

"Sam," He breathed, "Oh, Sam, you're okay..." he was leaning over the bed without a second thought to what he was doing. He pressed his mouth against Sams, a bit harder than he meant to, but Sam kissed back all the same. The monitor beside the bed was beeping a little bit faster the longer they held onto their kiss. Gabriel had hardly any plans to let go. Sam was alive, and everything was going to be okay just like he said it would. The flicker of hope was burning alive again in Gabriels chest as he flicked his tongue inside Sams mouth. Sams fingers twitched in surprise against Gabriels hip, and he took a sharp intake of breath through his nose. He finally had to push the ghost away, both of them panting.

"It's nice to see you too, Gabe." He was grinning. Gabriels heart fluttered upon seeing this. He had almost forgotten what Sams real smile looked like. He held Sams face in his hands and leaned over to pepper kisses all over his face. Sam giggled and squirmed slightly, trying to push him off again. "Gabriel! Cut it out!"

Once he was certain he had kissed every inch of Sams face, he back on the mattress, his feet dangling off the edge. "I'm so happy you're not a ghost." Gabriel breathed.

"Yeah," Sam chuckled, "me too."  
A look of surprise then crossed his face and he reached up a hand towards his chest, grasping for the necklace that wasn't there. His eyes grew wide as he gasped,"My necklace-_your_-your necklace! Where is it? How can I see you if this-this is a dream isn't it? I'm dreaming!"

"No, no, kiddo!" Gabriel held up his hands to calm him down, "you're not dreaming! The doctors probably took it off and put it somewhere when you were in surgery or whatever. I don't know how to turn it on and off exactly but...people can see me now."

"What?"  
"Yeah! The nurses, Dean, Cas, you're Uncle Bobby, they can all see me! They're all here downstairs. They're all worried about you."  
"Gabriel that's wonderful...are you wearing my shirt?"

He looked down at the mention of it, forgetting for a moment that he had it on. It no longer smelled like Sam. It was now soaking in Gabriels own scent, and it wasn't exactly heart stopping to smell anymore. He laughed, "Oh, yeah. Bobby brought me and your brother some spare clothes because you kinda bled all over us. Hope you don't mind."

"Not at all," He smirked, "I like it better on you, anyway."

"Aw, you say that to all the guys who are me." Gabriel pretended to blush as Sam tried to get the pillow out from behind him to hit him with it.

"Now I know it's not a dream," he said, after sending a cloud of feathers poof out all over Gabriels head from the pillow, "none of my dream Gabriels are ever that narcissistic."

"Oh, shut up, you love me."  
"Yeah, I know."

They sat in a comfortable silence for a few moments. Gabriel was grinning down at the tips of his shoes and Sams eyes were closed like he was going to fall asleep again. Gabriel looked back up at him and pulled out the Skittles from his pocket. He shook the bag to catch Sams attention. "Skittle?" He asked when one green eye cracked open. Sam giggled and held out a palm for Gabriel to dump them into. As Gabriel watched him eat a thought crossed his mind, and he turned to look at the floor as he tried to think of a good way to bring this subject up.

"...Hey, Sammich,"  
"Hmm..."  
"How do you feel about the fact that your brother hates me?"

Sam gave him a puzzled look as he chewed on the candy. "What makes you think he hates you?" He asked thickly.

"He told me so."

"What?" his eyebrows arched, "why would he hate you?"

""cause it's my fault you're in here in the first place."  
"No, it's not. Don't say that. You didn't do anything wrong. You weren't the one who stabbed me."

Amber eyes flicked away from the floor and to Sams face. He replied slowly, "Yeah...but I still-"

"But nothing," the latter cut him off, "Gabriel you didn't do anything wrong. Dean was just scared, and when he's scared he's an asshole, and when he's an asshole he'll tell you he hates you. I've lived with the guy for sixteen years I know what I'm talking about. He didn't mean it."

"Sure seemed like he did." He muttered under his breath.

"Gabriel," Sam sighed, like he expected Gabriel to know everything he was about to say already, "even if Dean really does hate you, who cares? You're not dating him. He's Castiels problem now." Gabriel couldn't help but laugh, and Sam added, "dude, you're my Gabriel."

Gabriel rolled his eyes and when he turned to look at Sam he had a dopey expression on his face that made him laugh even more. Already everything seemed normal. Sam was laying in a hospital bed with a gash in his side and everything was normal? It was too weird.  
The ghost rubbed his knuckles against the top of Sams head hard, tousling his hair wildly. Sam giggled and swatted his hands at him to get him away.

Gabriel lost his balance and fell across Sams legs. He traced small circles with his finger on his knee, biting his lip to keep from smiling as he said, "and you're my Sammy."

"Don't call me Sammy." He groaned at the ceiling, his eyes were closed again.

"Are you tired?" Gabriel changed the subject.

"No." He lied.

"Don't lie to me. You can sleep if you want. "

"No. Can't. Have to stay awake with you."  
"No you don't. I'll be fine. I'll sneak back downstairs and when the doctors let us visit you I'll be back again."  
"No, stay, Gabriel. Don't leave me."  
"I'll just be downstairs. I won't leave until you fall asleep-"

"No!" Sam struggled to sit up in his bed, his eyes were wide with fear. Gabriel sat up on his hands.

"What's wrong, Sam?"  
"You-You can't leave," he pleaded, "don't leave or else Lucifer will come."  
"What? Sammy, Lucifers dead. He's gone for good I promise. He's not coming to get you."  
"I see him thought-I see him when I sleep." His eyes looked watery and his shoulders were shaking slightly. "Please...stay with me, Gabriel. I don't want to be alone with him again."

"Okay, okay, okay," Gabriel said quickly but softly, climbing up in the bed, careful to stay away from the tubes, and his wound on his side under the blankets. He sat at the head of the bed with Sam. Sitting next to his shoulders, Gabriels back pressed against the wall behind them, "I'll stay with you. Just promise me if I do that you'll sleep." Sam leaned his temple against Gabriels leg and nodded.

"Thank you, Gabe..." He raised a hand in a offer for Gabriels. Fingers threaded through the gaps of the other hand and Gabriel gave it a hard squeeze.

Gabriel ran his free hand through Sams hair like he had done so many times before. The boy hummed at the touch and nuzzled his head against Gabriels leg. Gabriel leaned down and pressed a kiss against his temple before leaning back and whispering, "If I get in trouble I'm blaming you."

Sam smiled sleepily, "Yeah, blame the kid who almost bled to death. Let's see how that works out."

Gabriel laughed. "You've been hanging out with me too much, kiddo."

Sam just made a noise of acknowledgement to let the ghost know that he had heard him. But neither of them spoke again after that.  
Sam fell into a deep sleep, his mouth hanging slightly open with his head still pressed against Gabriels leg. Gabriel closed his eyes, his head tilted to the ceiling. With the exceptions of a few minor changes, he decided before drifting off to sleep that if he could pick a moment to sit in for the rest of his life, this one wouldn't be so bad.


	14. Chapter 14: Love Me Tender (The End)

**Chapter 14: Love Me Tender (The End)**

He woke up to someone shaking his shoulders roughly, his head rolling off his shoulder and hitting against the wall. "Ow!" He hissed, bending forward and rubbing the spot on his head that smarted.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Deans voice rang in his buzzing ear.

Gabriel blinked and looked up, remembering where he was. Standing over him and Sam was Castiel, Bobby, Dean, and Doctor Barnes that had most likely lead them in to see Sam. Everything was so bright and it was a little hard to see, but he could see Deans annoyed expression from a million miles away.

He could still feel the weight of Sam pressed against his leg which meant that he had not woken up yet.

"I found them snuggled up like this when I came to check on Sam," Doctor Barnes said cheerfully, "I knew I should have woken him up and lectured him about sneaking around the hospital...but Sam looked so happy I just couldn't. I figured you must have been looking for you little escapee though."

"Yeah," Bobby snorted, "nearly gave all of us a heart attack this mornin' when we couldn't find'm anywhere. What the heck were you thinkin', kid?"

"I-" the sleepiness in Gabriels brain was still ebbing slowly away, the knot on the back of his head still pounding, "I-uh...I just...Sam...Sam needs me. I'm staying with Sam."

"Yeah, we got that." Dean uttered, "Sam needs you like a fish needs a bicycle."

"You're sweet," Doctor Barnes patted Gabriels arm lightly, "but you shouldn't climb into the bed with the patients. If you would like to stay with Sam I could set up a chair in here if you'd like."

"Why does _he _get a chair?" Dean pouted, "I'm his brother."

Doctor Barnes raised her eyebrows, "All ya gotta do is ask, whiny."

Castiel and Gabriel giggled as the tips of Deans ears turned pink and glared at the brothers. Muttering a curse at them under his breath.

"Gabriel, why didn't you just wait with the rest of us to see Sam?" Castiel asked, observing the sacks of blood and water hanging next to the bed. Gabriel noticed that they had drained quite a bit since the last time he was awake and he wondered how much time had passed exactly.

"I...well last night Dean really worried me...he told me Sam was bleeding to death up here and that..." He stopped himself, gazing down at Sam for a moment. His arm was wrapped under Gabriels thigh, his hand curled up in a tiny ball, clutching his jeans. The blanket draped over him rose and fell with his slow deep breathes, "...I just wanted to see if he was okay..."

"Mister Winchester," Doctor Barnes scolded, "Why on earth would you tell him that?"

"Wait," Gabriel turned to Dean, fury bubbling inside his chest, "he was fine?! Why didn't you tell us if he was perfectly fine?!"

"_Shhh_!" Castiel pressed a finger to his lips as Sam stirred.

Dean held his hands up in defense. "Hey, hey, hey! I didn't know anything! Doctor Barnes didn't come down to talk to me about Sam, she just asked me what his blood type was!"

"Ohmygod, Dean, you dick!" Gabriel rolled his eyes. Doctor Barnes told him to watch his language but he ignored her, "why didn't you just say that?!"

"'cause I was worried too all right?" He huffed, "I was mad, and tired. I just wanted to know if Sammy was okay too, okay?! No one was givin' me straight answers either."

This upset Gabriel quite a bit, but he didn't say anything else to Sams brother. He just frowned at him, and tightened his grip around Sams shoulder. He didn't really appreciate Dean doing that to him. A feeling that felt like hate burned white hot in his chest.

Sam stirred again. It was more like a twitch from a bad dream, and this worried Gabriel slightly. He turned to Sam to wake him up from his possible nightmare of Lucifer like he had told him about before, but he was already fluttering his eyelids awake when he went to shake him. His eyes saw Gabriel first, and his mouth split into a dreamy smile, nuzzling his head against his thigh. When his eyes reopened he noticed Deans face looming over him also.

"Dean!" He gasped, struggling to sit up to greet his brother, "Dean-ow-" he cringed. His arm wrapping around his middle to cradle his side where Lucifer had stabbed him. Doctor Barnes hurried over and pressed her hands on Sam's chest, pushing him back onto the bed.

"Sam, you really shouldn't move like that. I can get some more pain medicine for you if you'd like, but for now you should just rest. Nothing too exciting."

Sam looked around the room now, his face lighting up as he saw his family surrounding him. "Cas! Uncle Bobby! Gabriel said you were here."

"Well, yeah, ya idjit," Bobby smiled, "we ain't lettin' you die on us like that."

Sam just grinned.

"He's on the road to recovery now," Doctor Barnes announced, her hands now shoved into the pockets of her white coat, "He should be back to almost normal tomorrow. He's almost got all the blood he lost back into his system. After this bag he will anyway. He'll need plenty of rest before I let him go home though."

* * *

Bobby went home around six. He had longed for the comfort of his own bed and for food that he could easily identify as food.  
Gabriel, Castiel, and Dean however were allowed to spend most of their day with Sam. They played cards with the deck Dean got out of the Impala. There was a small television hanging from the ceiling in the room but they didn't watch much. The only time they had watched it was when Cas turned on the news and they were broadcasting information about Sams kidnapping. He shut it off after that.

"They're talking about it already?" Gabriel said, waving his hand of cards like a fan in front of his face.  
Cas rolled his shoulders, "Not that surprising. It's a kidnapping and the supposed _kidnapper _is still around here. Or so the police are lead to think," he gave a glance and a small smirk towards Dean, "they have to let the people know."

"Jeez," Sam sighed, "all the kids at school are probably flipping. Nothing like this ever happens in Lawrence. When they hear that it was me, I'm all they're gonna talk about for the rest of the year."

"You think you're so popular, bitch." Dean teased, throwing a jack at him.

"I know I am, _jerk_." He flicked his queen of spades back at his nose, "and I thought you said you were out of jacks, you liar."

It was dark outside now. Dean had taken Castiel home because his parents had called the hospital looking for him. It was late, but Gabe wasn't sure how late. He was too lazy to twist his body to look up at the clock that was out of view.

A nurse had came in a while ago and taken out the tubes in Sams forearm. She gave him a round pill and a paper cup full of water. She didn't leave until he swallowed it and drank all the water. He went to sleep soon after that.

Gabriel was tired but he couldn't fall asleep. The only light in the room came from the moon shining its white light from the window on the wall at the other side of the room. The light fell on Sams bed, only stretching from his feet to his chest, and it also reflected on the floor.  
Gabriel sat in the chair with his legs bent over the arm and his back squished against the opposite arm. His arms were folded over his chest, and despite the cold feeling of the hospital, he felt quite warm. Small snow flurries fell outside the glass.

The ghost hadn't noticed his eyes had closed until he popped them open at the sound of Sam screaming. He was up on his feet instantly. Sam was screaming, his eyes closed and his arms shaking at his sides. Gabriel ran to his bedside, gripping his shoulders and jerking them to wake him. "Sam! Sam! Wake up! It's just a dream! Wake up, kiddo!"

Sam was dripping in a cold sweat and still shaking when his green eyes popped open to shine in the moonlight. "Gabriel-" He panted, his voice squeaking slightly, "Gabriel...did...did I wake you up? I'm...I'm sorry."

"Ghosts don't need sleep. Remember?" He forced a smile. He was a little unsettled by Sam's night terrors. He hadn't known how bad they were. "You okay?"

"Y-yeah..."  
"Lucifer?"  
"Yeah..."  
"...Scoot over."

He didn't wait for Sam to move though. He slid into the bed next to him, and Sam pulled the paper blanket over him. They laid like they did at home; Gabriel pressed against Sams chest, and Sams arm looped around Gabriels back to hold him. The only difference was that Sam had to lay on his back due to his stitches and pain in his side.

Gabriel nuzzled his face against Sams neck. "What happened?"

Sam let out a long sigh, "It's...I've had the same dream three times already...I'm back in the cellar, and Lucifers there...and no ones there besides me and him. He laughs at me, and then vanishes...and...and I'm so scared 'cause I don't know where he is-and I'm all alone. I try to find a way out but when I look around all the doors are gone. The room keeps getting smaller, and smaller until I think it's gonna squish me to death...and thats when he stabs me. It's like I'm feeling it all over again. It feels so real. Everything hurts...and then everything goes red...my hands...my whole lower half of my body...it all drips onto the floor and it all hurts so bad I can't see-and then I finally wake up..."

Gabriel now held himself up with his arms while staring at him for a long time before speaking. He wanted to tell him how sorry he was that Sam had to go through Lucifers torture even after he was gone and safe from his clutches. He wanted to tell him how sorry he was for getting him into this situation. But Gabriel was pretty sick of saying 'I'm sorry'. He had said it about a million times already in the past twenty four hours, and it wasn't making anything better.  
Instead of apologizing for something he couldn't fix he leaned over and pressed a hard kiss onto Sams lips. Emptying all his feelings into this kiss, for Sam to know exactly all the regret, worry, fear, and love he was feeling mixed up inside him all at once. Sam kissed him back, trying to twist himself onto his side, so the kissing would feel less awkward, but Gabriel pressed his hand hard on his chest and pushed him back down on the mattress. He crawled over ontop of him, placing his knees on either side of his waist, the beeping of the monitor next to them was quickening up its pace suddenly.

"Is this okay?" Gabriel whispered, his nose very close to Sams, "I'm not hurting you am I?"

"You kiddin' me?" He smirked, breathless. His fingers running up and down the ghosts hips, "a little thing like you?"

Gabriel snarled. "'scuse me? Who you callin' _little_? You better watch it, Winchester. Just 'cause you're cute doesn't mean I won't prank your ass."

"Is that supposed to be a threat?" Sam laughed.

"You betcha, kiddo. I could do very," his voice suddenly turned very low, and his eyelids hooded over his brown eyes, he placed a kiss on Sams jaw before he continued, "very, _very_, bad things," he placed his hands on either side of Sams head, hovering over him. Sam was looking up at him with round eyes, and his breath was wheezy, "-to you."

Sam licked his lips, trying to think of something clever to say with what blood was left in his brain. His fingers were still drumming against Gabriels hips. He moved them slowly under his shirt. "Oh, yeah?" He said playfully. A small smirk tugging at his lips. "Like _what_?"

This made Gabriel grin wickedly. He sat back up on his lap, bringing a hand to Sams chest and drawing small circles with his pointer finger. "Oh," He said, "very _filthy _things."  
Sam tried to swallow a whimper, but Gabriel heard it and his eyes flashed with amusement. The grin on his face widened as he continued, "...like...I bet I could make you scream right in this hospital bed. Everyone around here would hear you, and they would all know that it would be me making you make those sounds. Those pretty little sounds you make when you're all flustered...I could let you fuck me right here."

Sam made a noise that was something between a whimper and something like getting spit caught in your throat. His hands were still running along the sides of Gabriels body, up and down, his warm skin pressing against his sweaty palms, and he could feel heat pooling in his stomach right around where Gabriel was sitting on him.

"You would like that?" He cocked his head to the side, "Sammy you dirty little boy. We can't do that here. Not without condoms and lube anyway. But it would be so easy wouldn't it? Hell, those backless hospital gowns would really come in handy." He winked and Sam growled at him, his fingers digging into his skin under the shirt. "Shame too. I haven't had sex in a long time, Sammy. I used to get some _all_ the time..."

Sam gulped hard, biting his lip. He was trying to fight off the urge to grind against Gabriel. He needed to feel some friction against his growing erection, and Gabriel talking about how he was school slut may have just been a tall tale, but it getting him hot.

"How much time do we have?" Sam flipped his hands out from under the shirt and grabbed a hold of the collar, pulling Gabriel back down so his face was closer, "how much time do we have till Dean gets back?"

Gabriels face showed surprise. He hadn't really intended Sam to be so into it. He just planned on talking dirty, and maybe getting Sam a little pissed about bragging about all the sex he didn't really have, but he didn't plan on actually doing anything physical, he didn't expect Sam to be up for it. With the stab wound still hurting and everything.  
He calculated in his head the amount of time it took to get here from the Oak house and the amount of time Dean had been gone, adding a few extra minutes because the Winchesters house was a little farther down the street than Oak. He gave Sam an answer, "half an hour maybe? S-Sam, we don't have to do this, you know? I was just talking dirty for fun. I don't want to put you in any more pain."

"I'm fine," He huffed before pressing a hard kiss onto his mouth, dragging his tongue along Gabriels bottom lip. They parted. "I'm fine, Gabe. I want to. _God_, I want to."

"Okay." All the air whooshed out of his lungs at this. His pants had began to feel a little tighter at the noises Sam was making while he was talking, but now that he knew Sam wanted it like this it was getting him excited and flustered. He rolled his hips and felt the bulge under the sheets that was Sam. It caught him by surprise slightly but he didn't show it. Sam swallowed a groan and then pulled on the Batman shirt, making it go over Gabriels head and shoulders before tossing it on the ground. He pressed his palms against Gabriels stomach, running them up his chest and around his shoulders, looping his arms around his neck and pulling him down for a kiss.

Gabriel had to wiggle a little to scoot down Sams hips and closer to his crotch. He then dragged his own erection across Sams, making him moan against his mouth. He did this for a while, until he didn't think his arms could support him anymore. When he sat back Sams fingers went for his jeans, unbuttoning them. He jerked down the jeans so the pooled around Gabriels knees, and revealed rocket ship boxers. Yellow stars and red planets were splattered all over in a pattern along with the rockets over light blue fabric. Their eyes met and Gabriel gave him a look of '_don't you dare_' before Sam couldn't take it anymore and fell back against the pillows, laughing hysterically.

"Have you been wearing those the whole time?"  
"Shut up! They were the only ones that were clean that morning!"  
"I'm sorry, Gabe, but this is just too funny."  
"Way to kill the moment." He pouted, crossing his arms over his bare chest.

Sam looked up at him, still smiling and giggling slightly. "Aw, c'mon," He tugged lightly at one of Gabriels arms, "they're cute. You're cute. I think they're awesome."

"I am _not_ cute," Gabriel puffed, "I'm a sex god from Hell, remember? Sex Gods aren't cute."

"Okay, you're adorable then."  
This didn't seem to be any better.  
"C'mon, Gabe. I'm sorry for laughing, okay? I just really wasn't expecting that. They really are cute on you. Hey, you're half naked in front of me, I'm not trying to think about what boxers you're wearing, I'm just trying to think of a way to get them off."

This perked him up. It caught his attention and drew the wicked smile back onto his face. Without saying anything, he drew back the paper thin blankets of the hospital bed and sat on Sams blue hospital gown.

Sams thumbs dug into the sides of the elastic of the rocket ship boxers, and he dragged them around towards the front until they met in the middle, just below Gabriels belly button. He then pushed one hand down into the boxers, his palm making contact with Gabriels penis. The ghost took a sharp intake of breath.

Sam smirks a smile that could put Gabriel's reputation to shame as he gives a squeeze that makes the ghost moan. He rubbed his hand back and forth as Gabriel seeked out Sams lips to capture them with his own. They kiss, but it's messy because Sam is distracted by other things. Gabriel is reduced to little pants and moans and "Fuck, kiddo," because this feeling is being given by someone else and not just his own hand. It's fantastic because it's not just anyone either, it's _Sam_ and he couldn't picture anyone else he would want to touch him like this other than Sam right now.

Sam at this point is kind of sort of shamelessly grinding against the inside of Gabriels thigh. He needed to resolve some of the friction and his dick was basically poking out from under his hospital gown. He really couldn't care less. Gabriel had made him loose himself last time they did something like this, it was his turn to make Gabriel feel the way he had.  
Gabriel suddenly sat back on the bed, pushing Sams hands out from his boxers. Sam was confused for a moment, wondering if maybe he had done something wrong. Maybe Gabriel didn't like him grinding into his thigh, maybe it was uncomfortable for him. Before he could open his mouth and apologize though, Gabriel began ridding himself of the last piece of clothing he had on.

If Sam was able he thinks he would have lunged at Gabriel right then. He had never seen such a flawless human being before. He wanted all of Gabriel in every way possible right then. His hands made a grab for the ghost and Gabriel was happy to be pulled back into Sams arms. Sam smothered him into a kiss, and Gabriel rolled his hips against Sams in a way that seemed utterly filthy and made Sam shudder out his next breath.

The hospital gown had been rumpled and pushed its way up past Sams legs and stomach. Gabriel would have liked to take it off but that would mean having Sam move around so he could untie it, and that also meant he would have to retie it once they were done. He didn't want Sam moving around that much. Instead he just pushed it up out of his way so he could rut against the taut skin of Sam's lower abdomen. Sam was now thrusting up into the warm space where Gabriels thighs start to meet and here they find a rhythm that they can both fall into and feel comfortable. Gabriel finds it quite easy to lose himself here, but hopes for just a tiny but more.

He abandons kissing Sam's mouth to slide down a little to bring their hips to level and with it he can ride his cock alongside Sam's on the next solid push. Their hips roll together and Gabriel knows this is where he'll lose himself. He can feel himself approaching orgasm faster now, the tension building and the pleasure peeking and the way his breath seems fast and ragged every time he pulls up from giving Sam a hickey on his chest.  
He comes all over Sam and the hospital bed and he lets out a combination of all the swears he can think of. They come out as a garbled mess and he feels like he could finally sleep when his muscles give out and he collapses on Sam.

"Gabe..." Sams whimper brings him back and he remembers that Sam hasn't orgasmed yet. He pushes himself up with shaky arms and wraps a hand around Sams cock. With a few strokes of a skilled hand and his thumb flicking over the head, Sam comes too. He comes with a moan of Gabriels name and it's almost enough to get him hard again.  
But instead he falls next to Sam on the bed, and Sam grips a hand onto Gabriels arm to pull him closer.

The hospital is colder now that the heat is gone.

"I didn't hurt you did I?" Gabriel whispers.

"Of course not." Sam replies.

"Good."  
He then wiggled his way out of Sams grasp and his feet met the floor with two loud smacks that echoed around the empty room.

"Hey," Sam called, "I didn't realize this was a one night stand."

"It's not," he said, "this room is cold as fuck. And unless you never want to see Gabriel junior ever again I think I should probably put some clothes on."

Sam laughs at the name and turns his head towards the ceiling as Gabriel redresses. His eyes are closed and he hardly notices when Gabriel comes back with a paper towel and starts cleaning him up.

"Where'd you get that?" He mumbled sleepily.

"They're by the sink," he points over to the other side of the room, "their for doctors probably. But whatever. I don't think they'd really want to come in here and see cum all over their beds."

"Mmm..." Sam was already half asleep.

Gabriel threw the towel away and then climbed back into the hospital bed with Sam. Pulling the blanket over them and snuggling back into the position he was in when he climbed in after Sam had his nightmare. Sams arm lazily wraps around Gabriels shoulder, and Gabe presses his nose against his hospital gown. He closed his eyes and sighed through his nose, hoping for the sweet smell of Sam to fill his senses again. Instead he smells like the hospital and dry blood.

"Dude, yuck," He sputtered.

"What?"  
"You smell terrible."  
Sam laughs, "Sorry."

"When was the last time you took a shower?" Gabriel mumbled, feeling the wave of sleep wash over him. Sam said something but he didn't hear him. The warmth of Sam pressed against him was comforting, and the sound of the steady beeping from the monitor was something like a lullaby. It was all enough to push him over the edge into sleep.

* * *

It was the following afternoon and it seemed like Sam was back to his normal self, like Doctor Barnes had said he would be. Gabriel was sitting criss-cross on the bed with him while Dean sat in his chair next to them, reading out of a book. A nurse came in to give another pill and cup of water to Sam that morning. When Gabriel asked what the pills were for she said they were to help with the pain in his side.  
Sam said that the wound hardly even hurt anymore. The pain was just sorta pinched in his side if he moved around too fast. He could sit up in bed now with the pillows supporting his back.

The two were wadding up pieces of paper towel from the sink and shooting them across the room to get them into the garbage can near the door. Brown balls of crumpled paper circled the perimeter of the basket as evidence of their unsuccessful attempts to get one inside. It had all started when Sam had manged to get one in by bouncing it off the wall after lazily tossing a used piece from wiping up his split juice.  
Since then their wads only littered the floor.

"We're running out of ammo," Gabriel announced, looking down at the two paper wads left sitting in his lap.

"The enemy is getting hungrier," Sam said, picking up one of the wads and tossing it in his hand, "we'll need to blow it up soon or all the towns people will be eaten."

"Exactly. Go for it Commander Winchester." He then leaned over and kissed the ball in Sams hand, tapping it and saying, "for luck."

Sam giggled and tossed the paper as hard as he could. It hit the wall and bounced off of it, landing on the floor a few inches away from the basket.  
"You're kisses aren't as lucky as you expected them to be, Commander Novak." Sam noted seriously.

"It's all up to me now," Gabriel sighed dramatically, "this is the paper wad that will decide our fate for the town. Wish me luck."

"Don't screw up, Commander Novak." Dean commented, not looking up from his book. Gabriel snorted at him, his eyes narrowed slightly.  
He turned his gaze back to the garbage bin without a comment and bent his arm back, preparing to throw the paper.

Gabriel tossed the wad in an arch in the air. He and Sam leaned over in the seats as they watched it fly in perfect aim for the basket. They thought for sure it was going to make it in.

Doctor Barnes walked inside the room at that moment, and the paper bounced off the door, hurtling itself far away from the garbage bin and skidding along the tile.

Sam and Gabriel both threw their hands over their faces and made noises of disbelief.

"It was _so_ close!" Gabriel exclaimed.  
"I can't believe it!" Added Sam, shaking his head.

Doctor Barnes looked at them quizzically. She then casted her gaze to the floor and laughed, kicking the paper wads with her shoe.  
"Seems like you boys have been having fun."

"Heh-sorry about the mess, Doctor Barnes," Sam said sheepishly, "Gabriel will clean it up."

"Hey, don't volunteer me. This was you're idea,_ you _clean it."

"Who's the one in the hospital gown, Gabriel." Dean grumbled.

"It's fine boys," the Doctor laughed good naturedly, and her heels clicked against the tile as she walked up to Sams bedside. She had something in her arms and it was pressed up to her chest. They looked like clothes and shoes, "I just came in here to tell Sam that he'll be good to go in a few."

"Really?" He beamed.

"Yup. We'll just run a few tests after lunch to make sure your blood pressure is normal and everything. Basically just a regular check up. You can get dressed in here and after you eat I'll come back and we'll do that check up. Sound good?"

"Good?" Dean stood up from the chair, setting his book down on the seat, "That's awesome."  
"Great." Doctor Barnes grinned and held out the items she had been holding to her chest, "Here's your clothes and shoes, Sam. Oh, and your necklace you were wearing. You were probably wondering were it had gone off to."

Sam thanked her and took his clothes, placing them in his lap and picking up the necklace that was set ontop. He pulled it over his head and it fell onto his chest. He felt whole again now that he had it back.  
Gabriel smirked as he saw this.

"I'll see you boys later," The doctor waved as she headed out of the room, "make sure Sam eats something, Gabriel."

"Aye, aye, capt'n." He tapped two of his fingers to his forehead, waving her off.

"All right, Sammy," Dean walked over to the bed, "you can get dressed while Gabriel gets lunch."

"Why do I have to get lunch?" He whined.  
Dean glared at him until he slid off the bed and retied his sneakers to his feet. When he stood back up he leaned on his hands against the mattress. "I'll be back soon." He told Sam, before pressing a long drawn out kiss to his lips. Sam blushed hard with kissing Gabriel in the presence of Dean, and his older brother coughed loudly, uncomfortably looking at the floor when the two pulled a part to look at him.

Gabriel grinned wickedly. He knew exactly what he was doing. If Dean was going to be an asshole to him he would normally prank him. But with him being Sams older brother he felt like that was off limits. The least he could do was make him uncomfortable as possible. Gabriel had to get his just desserts somehow.

He pressed a peck on Sams lips before leaving.

Dean offered to help Sam put his clothes on, but his brother waved him off and told him he was fine. He wiggled off the bed and put on his jeans before taking the hospital gown off. The waist of his blue jeans rubbed against the white fabric of the large white cloth covering his stitches. He then pulled his arms through the sleeves of his shirt and buttoned it. After he was done he held out his arms to Dean, presenting himself. As though proving he could do a good job all by himself. His brother just rolled his eyes and sat back down in his chair as Sam climbed back up in the bed.

They sat in silence for a while. The loud ticking of the clock on the wall echoed loudly against the blank cold walls of the room. Sam laid his head back against the pillows and picked at his nails, loosing himself in thought before opening his mouth and asking,

"Why are you so mean to Gabriel?"

"What?" Deans response was instant.

"Why are you so mean to him? Do you not like him?"  
"Uh-not-" Dean rubbed the back of his neck and turned his gaze away from his book and to his shoes, "not really, Sammy."

"Why not?"

"Look, Sam," Dean shook his head, "I've told you I don't do chick flick moments."  
"Dean," He sat up in the bed, holding himself up by his hands and frowning at his brother, "I'm being serious."

"So am I."  
"Just answer the damn question, Jerk."  
"_Fine_. Bitch. He was all right when I first met him but..." He let out a long sigh before meeting Sam's eyes, "Sam I thought you were gonna die. I wanted to go after you myself, but Gabriel convinced me my place was to go with Cas to the graveyard. He promised me that you'd be safe and...look where we are now. I just...I can't live with that."

"_Dean_," Sam practically laughed in disbelief, "I'm fine! I'm alive! It wasn't Gabriels fault! Don't blame him he was only trying to-"

"Dammit, Sam," he growled, getting to his feet again, "listen to yourself for Christ sake. You're talking about the guy who almost got you killed."

"That's not true-"  
"Not to mention he's a dead guy."  
"...what does that have to with anything..."  
"Nothing...nothing-just...forget I said anything, all right."

Sams gaze turned cold and his heart felt like there was a thousand prickly knives jabbing at it. He had heard enough of this crap coming from Lucifer, but that had meant almost nothing. But to have it coming from his own brother?

"Don't tell me that whenever you look at Gabriel all you think is, 'wow he's dead'."  
"What?"  
"Don't say that, Dean. Don't say that all you can think of is him being a ghost. It's a lie. That's not what anyone thinks when they look at Gabriel. He may be dead but his spirit is the most alive person I've ever met in my life. Don't tell me that you haven't forgotten that he's actually dead. That you have to keep reminding yourself that he's actually six feet under ground in a graveyard. Because that's what I have to do constantly. He's dead. He's dead, _he's dead, he's dead_," Sams voice suddenly caught in his throat and Deans expression turned soft, "I don't know why I love him so much...but...It feels so fucking right...you know? I see you and Cas together, and you seem so happy. Like you're _supposed_ to be together. That's how I feel about him. Like I'm supposed to be with Gabriel..._God_. It really fucking sucks...Like _why_, why would the universe let us be together this way? It isn't fair...It just-" he broke off and stared hard at his feet. The tears slipping down his face before he could stop them.

"Fuck, Sammy," Dean sighed, wrapping his arms around his little brother, "fuck...don't-don't cry, Sam. Don't cry...I know you like him. I know you like him a lot." Sam gasped a breath as he choked down a sob, tucking his arms under Deans armpits and wrapping them up around to his back. "I'll apologize to Gabriel okay? I really didn't mean to yell at him...I was just worried about you and I needed to blow off some steam I guess...Gabriel just got in the way. I'm sorry, Sam."

"What do you have to be sorry for?" He sniffed, "you were just being my brother...It's okay. You're supposed to act like that."  
"No," he chuckled, but it was sad. He gripped his hold around his brother tighter,"not that. I'm just sorry or everything else."

Dean looked up from Sams shoulder when he heard someone enter the room. He thought it was odd that either Doctor Barnes or Gabriel would be returning so soon, but he was even more surprised to see a different visitor.

John Winchester stood in the doorway and as soon as Dean made eye contact with him he parted from Sam and sputtered out, "Sir."

"Dean. Sam." John huffed, taking a few steps inside the room and frowning.

"Dad-" Sam wiped away the tears from his eyes with his sleeve, "Dad what are you-"  
"What? I'm not allowed to visit my son when he's in the hospital? It's like you two don't think I have a right to know anything anymore. I can't even believe I had to hear from the news that you almost died. What the hell were you thinking, Dean?"

"Dad I-"  
"You're not even supposed to be around him, boy." He snapped, making Dean back down like a puppy afraid of being kicked, "I thought I told you to get lost. I haven't even been out of town for two days and look at Sam! How could you let this happen?"

"I'm fine, Dad..." Sam mumbled under his breath.

"You most certainly are not," John barked, "I have half a mind to take you outta here. Take you away from Dean maybe then you'll learn-"  
"No!" Sam gasped, "I-I want to live here! I want to live with Dean! Don't take me away!"

"Look at what you've done to the kid! You've brainwashed him already!"  
"He hasn't done anything!"  
"Stay out of this Sam, I'm not talking to you. I leave you with Dean and you nearly died I'm not letting that happen again."

"You left me _alone," _He hissed, "I woke up and you were _gone_. You were gone like you always are. You didn't even say you were leaving you just left. So, yeah, I called Dean to come home. But during those hours of being alone in the house I was taken. If Dean was home maybe he could've stopped it, but you know why he wasn't home then? Because _you _kicked him out. Because he had to stay at Uncle Bobbys. Because it takes a fifteen minute drive to get from Uncle Bobbys house to our house that's why he wasn't home, because of _you_. But Dean looked for me. Dean, Cas, Gabriel they all looked for me and did a better job of looking than anyone else coulda done. They found me without any other help. If you ask me I'm better off with someone who looks for me other than someone who leaves me alone without any warning."

Johns jaw was hard and his fists were clenched tightly at his sides. Dean had no words to add.  
"You watch your tone with me, Sam."

The younger Winchester brother just slumped back against his pillows, his arms folded tightly over his chest and his mouth in a frown. He would have liked to have John leave. He would have been perfectly content without seeing his father again at this point. He was practically emotionally exhausted at this point, he had been through a whole slew of emotions in the past few minutes and it was draining. He wanted John to leave, he wanted to go home with Dean and Gabriel, and have Cas come over, and they could eat pizza together and watch monster movies in the living room. He wanted to be in the warmth of his own bed that was big enough for him and Gabe to share, and he wanted to be held in the safety of Gabriels arms when he fell asleep. He was exhausted.

"Where did I go wrong with you two." John mumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose with his forefinger and thumb, squinting his eyes shut.

"Gee, I dunno where to start." Dean spat.

John had his hands on Dean, but before he could strike him or anything like that a roll was chucked across the room and pelted him in the back of the head. Everyone turned to look where in the world it had came from and saw Gabriel standing not far from the doorway, his arms laden with a lunch tray full of food from the hospital cafeteria. He had brought three of everything it seemed, except there were only two rolls on a plate.

"Why don't you pick on somebody your own size, bucko."

Johns face turned from fury into surprise when he recognized Gabriels face. His eyes flashed with rememberence when the memory flicked in the back of his brain. He released Dean from his grip as the rest of his body turned to face Gabriel.

"You..." He breathed.

"Yeah, me," Gabriel retorted, placing his free hand on his hip and cocking it to the side, "why don't you lose it before I get really mad and throw something bigger than that roll at your head, huh?"

Johns face turned back to anger, his eyebrows furrowing. "Who are you?"

"That's not important. But I'd greatly appreciate it if you'd leave. You're upsetting Sam, and he's trying to rest so he can get better."

John huffed. He gave a glare to his sons before turning back to Gabriel. He seemed like he wanted to say something badly, but couldn't think of anything worth saying. Instead he stormed away, making sure to bump against Gabriels shoulder hard, but the ghost hardly reacted.  
Once Johns footsteps faded down the hall Gabriel made his way to Sams bedside and sat the tray of food on the mattress.

"Thanks..." Sam said softly.

"Don't mention it, kiddo," Gabriel tossed him a cold apple, "you're dad isn't hard to figure out. He can take on his kids, but when he's confronted from someone outside of his family, he doesn't know what to do. What a dick."

Sam smiled a small smile before biting down into the fruit. Gabriel took a second one off the tray and examined it in his hand, frowning at it slightly. "I'd rather have a _carmel_ apple. With chocolate chips on top. Can't they have real food in this hospital?"

"This _is_ real food, Gabe," Sam said thickly, "and I'm not letting you get anything out of the vending machine either. Eat the apple. It's sweet like candy."

He wrinkled his nose,"Nothing is as sweet as candy...'cept maybe you."

"Aw, you romantic you." Sam rolled his eyes but couldn't help but grin, "eat the damn fruit."

Gabriel caved and bit into the apple. It was sweeter than he remembered apples being. The juices gushed into his mouth and practically fell down his throat as he chewed. He still liked candy better though.

Dean cleared his throat awkwardly.  
Gabriel turned his attention to him and raised his eyebrows, his apple shoved to the side in one cheek so he looked like some comical chipmunk. Dean smirked slightly, his hands shoved inside his leather jacket. He even let out a huffy sort of laugh before saying, "I just...I'm sorry, Gabriel. You're really not that bad and...I'm sorry. Really."

Gabriel grinned, winking at Dean before tossing him the third apple. He almost didn't catch it because he had to yank his hands out of his pockets, but it landed in his palms perfectly, his fingers clasping over it. "Say no more. Apology accepted, Deano. I knew you couldn't stay mad at my pretty face."

Dean let out another huffy laugh again before sitting on the edge of the bed with Sam and Gabriel. The tray of food between all of them. They ate, and laughed, and chatted until all the food was gone and their bellies were too full to possibly consume anymore. John Winchester and Lucifer were nothing but hazy memories to them now.  
Dean didn't realize it until then that his little brother had been right when he said that it was difficult to remember that Gabriel was actually dead.

* * *

It was a few days after Sam was released from the hospital. It was soon going to mark the one week anniversary of his near death experience. He had been able to go back to school this day and was overwhelmed by the reaction he had gotten when he stepped foot inside the doors (Gabriel had had to stay home this day given he still hadn't figured out how to work his invisible and visible trick). Even Alistar and Azazel begged him to show them his stiches. Ruby had fawned over him like some lovesick fangirl and he felt almost happy to brush her off. "I'm seeing someone, actually." he had told her. He almost wished Gabriel had been there to see the look on her face.

Sam was home now. Dean was still at the garage working with Uncle Bobby and Castiel wouldn't be over until later. It was just him and his ghost now.

Sam was leaning back against Gabriel in the bathtub. His knees stuck out of the warm water and he swished the bubbles around with his hand as Gabriel traced circles absentmindedly on his back.

"Why was Lucifer so cold?" he asked, cupping a pool of water in his palm and then watching it fall through the cracks in his fingers, "you're always so warm. Lucifer was so cold it hurt."

"I'm not really sure," Gabriel answered, running a hand up into the back of Sams hair, "I think it depends on the type of person you are...Lucifer was molevolent. Maybe that's why. I was always cold when I first died. But it went away after a while."

They were listening to The Styx sing on the radio. It sat on the corner of the sink in the bathroom, the antenta streatched out all the way, pointing towards them. Gabriel hummed along to the tune of Renegade as Sam leaned back against his chest. Sam got a few days extra of Thanksgiving vaction so he could rest up and get better. He didn't really like missing school, but no matter how much he begged Dean wouldn't let him get out of bed. His brother took these days off of work to stay home with him.  
Jo and Barry stopped by two days before his return to school to visit him and give him his school work. He showed off his stitches and even introduced them to Gabriel. Jo sat on the edge of his bed, eyes wide with wonder. "Weren't you scared, Sam? I've never known someone who was kidnapped before..."

Sam smiled, despite the subject, "'Course I was scared, Jo. I didn't know where I was!"

She shook her head, her blonde hair falling over her face, "It's just crazy. You never think of this stuff happening to people you know. Everyone at school is talkin' about you, you know? They all wanna know who this Gabriel guy is and how he found you."

Sam laughed and looked to Gabriel, who was standing beside his bed. "You hear that, Gabe?" He asked him, "they think you're a hero or something."

"_Well_," he polished his nails off on his shirt coolly, a crooked smirk crossing his face, "it was bound to happen sometime."  
"They're obviously not a good judge of character."

"How did you find Sam anyway, Gabriel?" Barry asked, shoving his glasses back up his nose, "Who woulda thought the Oak house?"

"Well, Dean, Cas, and I had split up looking for him," Gabriel cleared his throat, "and I was running down the street calling for him when I passed Oak street and I heard some funny noises coming from it. I broke in there and found Sam."

"Did you ever see what your kidnapper looked like?" Jo asked.

Sam shook his head, lying, "It was too dark to see anything. Until Gabriel came and turned on the lights."

And thats how their story went. Cas, Dean, Sam, and Gabriel never told the truth of what really happened in the Oak house. They couldn't. Who would believe them? For the rest of his high school career Sam would be spilling this lie over and over again to curious students who were itching to know what it was like to be kidnapped. After a while it felt more like he was telling them one of his monster stories instead of an incident in his own life.

After having a near death experience Sam finally seemed to realize what Gabriel was talking about when he said being a ghost wasn't what it was all cracked out to be. He would be leaving behind Barry and Jo and Castiel and Dean and Uncle Bobby, and his future with filmmaking. If he had to chose between the life he had now with Gabriel or death he knew he would pick the latter. He knew Gabriel would do the same. Being sixteen for all eternity didn't seem like such a good idea now.

John Winchester died of a heart attack a year later and the house was left to his sons. When this happened Castiel was eighteen and moved in with Dean and Sam. Sam had his family all together and he was happy.  
Sam and Gabriel were able to convince everyone that Gabriel was just another teenager the rest of his high school career. He pretended he was Gabriel Rosen and that he was homeschooled and that was that. At first after the accident whenever Sam and Gabe would go out into town they were swarmed by people. Everyone would ask Gabriel how they found Sam and they would ask Sam what he thought about this and they would anwser them. Gabriel liked the attention.

The day Sam left for college Gabriel was trembling with anxiety. He feared something would happen like Lucifer had predicted, but the whole time Sam seemed happy. He asked Gabriel to help him with his bags, and told him to buckle up in the car. Gabriel was almost surpised. He didn't think going with Sam off to college was ever an option. He never even thought about it. "Of course you're coming with me!" Sam would tell him, "you're my ghost!"

Sams eyes fluttered close as Gabriels hands slid down his shoulders and down his chest, past the rectangular pendant laying around his neck. His fingers grazed the stitches sewed into Sams skin where the glass had ripped inside him. It was cut from the side of his stomach and was the shape of the sharde that cut him. It was going to be an ugly jagged scar when he got the stitches out.

"The doctor says I can get those out soon." Sam spoke to the ceiling, "maybe a week or two."

"That's good." Gabriel pressed a kiss to his shoulder before laying his chin on it, nuzzling his cheek against Sams neck.

"You think we're going to be okay?"

Gabriel laughed, "Kiddo...I haven't been okay in thirteen years. But you know what?"  
"What?"  
"...I think we'll be just fine."  
"Really?" Sam giggled.  
"Yeah."

"...Hey, Gabriel."  
"Hmmm...?"  
"You think we'll be together forever?"

Gabriel was hesitant to anwser. His brothers words taunted him in the back of his mind, reminding him of what the future could possibly bring. "Listen...kiddo..." He sighed, "Do..do you know how long a forever is?"

"No."  
"It's a...It's a long time...longer than three months..."

"Whats that supposed to mean?" Sam snapped, sitting up and turning around to face him. His eyebrows were knitted together and his mouth was in a thin straight line.

Gabriels hands fell into the water with two identical plops, and he glared at the bubbles collecting around his lap. Worrying on his lip, he replied, "Sammich...you're gonna get sick of me one day."

"What?"  
"I'm a lot to handle, Sam. I know I am. You're gonna get sick of me and go off to college...we've only known each other for three months and you're talking about being together forever! Forevers a really long time, kiddo. And you're gonna want to leave me."

Sams expression softened, reaching out a hand to place on Gabriels shoulder. His thumb rubbing his collar bone as he spoke, "Gabriel. I've been sick of you since the day I met you."

This made him laugh, his eyes flicking away from the bubbles and to Sams eyes. Sams fingers were now tracing the edge of his jaw as he smiled, tugging him closer to him.

"You really think we'll make this thing work forever?"  
"I'll let you know when we get there."

Sam held him in a kiss like they have done so many times before, but it still felt like the first. Hands grasped for each other, skin rubbed against skin, lips were pulled by teeth, and it took them a while to set comfortably but they soon found a way to lay pressed against the end of the tub. The water and bubbles sloshed around them in a steady rhythm, and Sam laughed when the radio DJ announced they would be playing Heat of the Moment. For once it wasn't Gabriels doing.  
For the first time in a long time everything felt finally normal.

**THE END**


End file.
